Fremont police arrest 17-year-old who threatened to shoot school employee

FREMONT, Calif. - Fremont police arrested a 17-year-old boy Wednesday for allegedly making threats on social media about shooting a school employee and potentially other people at a school.

Police said the suspect made threats of gun violence against an employee at American High School, where the boy is a student, and that he also made comments about committing additional gun violence at an unnamed secondary school.

Police arrested the boy on suspicion of making felony terrorist threats and a hate crime, as the threats included numerous racial epithets, according to a news release issued Wednesday night by the Fremont Police Department.

The arrest comes a day after an 18-year-old in Uvalde, Texas, shot and killed 19 children and two adults and injured 17 others at an elementary school.

Fremont police said they were alerted to the suspect's threats by staff at the school Wednesday morning at 9:44 a.m., and an investigation was begun by the school's resource officer, school officials and police detectives to identify the student.

Police contacted the suspect and his parents and met them off-campus, where they arrested the boy and booked him at juvenile hall.

Police have not released his identity as he is a minor.