BY Estephania Baez
Messages threatening to end the lives of hundreds of people in public places, most of them sent anonymously by individuals who assure the danger is immediate, seem to be a criminal fad in San Diego County. Last year alone, there were more than 20 threats to county schools, as well as two at the international airport.
“One of the most important things for us is that we take these threats very seriously. We have strong coordination with all enforcement agencies, both federal and local,” stated San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer.
“I think it is something that sets our region apart and that I feel confident about, but we must remain vigilant.”
Technology has made it easier to commit these crimes. Most of the threats in recent weeks have been issued through social media, email, and other technology platforms. And while none have actually been carried out, authorities stated that until the origin and veracity of the threat can be ascertained, emergency responses must be activated and the threat investigated.
“We work very closely with school police departments and other agencies, and whenever we learn of these kinds of threats, the detectives do a very thorough investigation. We do everything we can to prevent these kinds of crimes,” added Mayor Faulconer.
“There are people who like to post threats online to seem ‘cool,’ such as saying that there will be a bomb at school, as was the case at San Ysidro High School. If you really want to be cool, do not post things like that, it could put your life in danger. Police can come to your house, check your computer, and that is it,” said Southwestern College student John Lopez.
Students have been the most affected population, as they have had to be evacuated from their classrooms and made to leave campus.
The San Diego Police Department has also been subject to threats. In 2015, SDPD had to evacuate their headquarters after a man drove a vehicle to the building’s lower parking lot and claimed that he had explosives under his car. After a thorough search that took more than an hour, officers let everyone know that there was no danger. The man who made the threat was transferred to a hospital for care since, according to police, he seemed to be under the influence of drugs.
Another false alarm led to having hundreds of detainees evacuated from their cells, as well as to the evacuation of administrative staff at the Chula Vista Detention Facility. Officials informed that the jail was secured by the Bomb Squad and trained dogs performed an extensive search of the complex, after which they declared it a false alarm and everyone was able to return to their regular activities. Officials made no additional comments about the incident.
The most recent incident was the purported attack on the Naval Medical Center San Diego. At 8 a.m., an employee reported having heard three gunshots coming from the basement in Building 26. The Marines Captain immediately notified the authorities, who immediately launched a strong response.
“We received the information after 8 a.m. and members of our SWAT Team responded. Other elements of our San Diego Police Department were also activated… we helped with the building investigation. It was a unified, coordinated effort, that is what all our law enforcement agencies train for,” expressed San Diego Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman.
“Run. Hide. Fight. That is the training we all have, and everyone responded very well and very quickly,” added Naval Hospital Commander Jose Acosta.
The Mayor was questioned by the press as to whether these incidents are related to how easy it is to get weapons. Mayor Faulconer responded, “you know, we are going to have a lot of threats. We are trained in the event of threats and what we are asking people to do in these cases is that if they see something or hear something that seems wrong, to inform the authorities. That is what happened today, and we saw the response by the authorities, we saw the coordination among law enforcement agencies.”