This month, Berkeley’s police–school cooperation prevented a mass shooting

In 2022, more mass shootings have occurred (over 250 and counting) than days have passed in the year. Highlighting a “rare success story,” Evan Symon of the California Globe details how Berkeley High School’s consistent communication with local police about a suspicious 16-year-old student thwarted his mass shooting/bombing plan. The boy was arrested after police tips and a search warrant that discovered numerous attack weapons.

Less than two weeks after mass shooting incidents at a grocery store in Buffalo, NY and a school in Uvalde, TX, another major mass shooting was thwarted in Berkeley earlier this week, preventing an unknown number of injuries and deaths.

According to the Berkeley Police Department, a 16-year-old boy was arrested on Monday following a tip that he had been attempting to recruit other students to join him for either a mass shooting or bombing of Berkeley High School. Tipped off earlier in May, police deemed the threat credible and obtained a search warrant for the teen’s residence.

Once there, the BPD found parts for explosives, assault rifles, knives, and other items that pointed to an imminent attack. A Youth Services investigation soon issued a warrant for the teenager’s arrest. The teen subsequently turned himself in and was arrested Monday on suspicion of possessing destructive device materials and threatening to commit a crime which will result in death or great bodily injury.

“We recognize the impact this news may have on our community,” said the Berkeley Police Department on Wednesday. “School safety remains a high priority for the Department. As part of that commitment, the Department has a School Resource Officer assigned to Berkeley High School who regularly liaises with school and safety personnel.  In addition to the School Resource Officer, all officers have access to a range of training and equipment that provide them the protection, skills and ability to rapidly respond to in-progress violence.”

This article originally appeared in the California Globe. Read the whole thing here.

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