A teenager has been referred for a mental health evaluation and counseling after he allegedly made a threat against Chino Valley High School.
Just before 9 a.m. on Wednesday, Chino Valley police say they were contacted by officials at Chino Valley High School for a report of a threat made against their school.
Students had reported the threats to school officials, police said.
After speaking with students, police identified a former 16-year-old Chino Valley High School student as a person of interest in the incident.
The boy was located at a school in Prescott and was detained by Prescott police until Chino Valley police could respond and speak with the teen.
During Chino Valley police's investigation, they learned of additional social media posts about the threat and was contacted by the FBI, which advised that they received a tip about a social media post that indicated there would be a shooting at the high school at 2 p.m.
After speaking with the teen, police say when he attended the school more than a month ago he jokingly made statements of, "shooting the school up and killing himself."
Police say the teen had admitted to telling people about this on more than one occasion, but the last instance was a month ago.
According to police, the teen spoke to his ex-girlfriend on Tuesday night through social media and said, "This is why so many things happen, 2 o’clock tomorrow."
Due to the this conversation and the teen's past statements, police say this led students to believe there would be a shooting at 2 p.m.
The teen's phone was seized and police are now searching for any additional information.
Following the investigation, the incident will be referred to the Yavapai County Attorney's Office, police said.
