On the morning of Sept. 16, the BOHS community woke to a ParentSquare notice  sent by Principal Joey Davis at 1:04 a.m. and information from the Brea Olinda Unified School District (BOUSD) detailing a school shooting threat and the resulting security measures initiated by BOUSD and the Brea Police Department (BPD).

Davis’s notice was prompted by a Text-a-Tip sent to BOHS administrators at 10:20 p.m. on Sept. 15. The anonymous tip notified BOHS leadership of a comment posted to a BOHS teacher’s Google Classroom that read, “9/17 school will be shotup.” 

Upon receipt of the message, BOHS administrators notified BOUSD and BPD.  

“We treat everything that comes in as credible until it’s disproved,” Bryson Burns, assistant principal, said. 

According to Burns, after receiving the report, himself, Davis, BOUSD Superintendent Brinda Leon, Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services Phil D’Agostino, School Resource Officer Steven Wulff, and other BPD officers spent the rest of the night and early morning investigating the threat.

At 1:06 a.m., Davis sent a message to BOHS faculty and staff echoing his statements to the community, and announcing a staff meeting to be led by Leon, D’Agostino, Wulff, and himself at 8 a.m. in the library “to answer questions.” 

“All reports are taken seriously and Brea PD was immediately dispatched to investigate,” Davis said. “The safety and well-being of our community are our top priorities, and we will continue to take every necessary step to maintain a safe environment for learning.”

At daybreak, students arrived to campus to Davis greeting students as they pulled up to the main entrance.

Between 30 to 40 teachers attended the 8 a.m. question and answer session hosted by Davis, district leadership, and Wulff. Davis reiterated a series of talking points meant to “address key concerns, reassure the community, and highlight the steps being taken to ensure safety.” 

At 9 a.m. BOHS administrators dismissed recruiters from the U.S. Army who had set up two trucks in the quad and were scheduled to present to students throughout the school day. 

“With the current situation, we didn’t want staff and students to be worried of it being related to the threat. We notified [the representatives] saying we no longer needed their services,” Burns said.  

At 9:29 a.m. BPD uploaded a social media post to multiple outlets, revealing their immediate course of action to “look into the validity of the threat.”

The investigation by BPD, BOUSD, and BOHS continued throughout the day and into the early afternoon. 

After concluding that the student was no longer a threat to BOHS, Davis, Burns, Wulff, and Leon conducted interviews with the student in BOHS’s main office between 1:30 and 2 p.m.

As result of the day-long investigation, which included a search of the student’s home by BPD, BOUSD shared a press release posted to the district’s website and social media at 5:17 p.m. which assured the community that the threat was not credible. 

A minute later, at 5:18 p.m., Davis sent an email to all BOHS staff, parents, and students, which read, “the threat was deemed non-credible as a result of a confession by another student who misunderstood conversations on campus about current events.” 

Because the student was cleared of wrong-doing and another student confessed, they will be allowed to return to campus.

“Brea PD,” Davis said, “will be present [on Sept. 17] to provide additional support and ensure a safe and secure learning environment.”