HACIENDA HEIGHTS — School police and sheriff’s deputies found nothing suspicious as they searched Los Altos High School Wednesday after a student reported overhearing other students possibly talking about a gun in a campus bathroom.
The incident began about 8:45 a.m. Wednesday at the school, 15325 E. Los Robles Avenue, Los Angeles County sheriff’s Lt. Vic Sotelo said.
“A student who was in one of the restrooms overheard two other students that were in one of the bathroom stalls saying, ‘it’s loaded,’” the lieutenant said. The student did not report seeing a gun.
The student reported the incident to administrators, who then checked the bathroom but found no one inside, Sotelo said.
Sheriff’s deputies assisted officers from the Hacienda La Puente Unified School District in locking down the school and looking for the student who made the alarming statement, as well as any weapon on campus, Sotelo said.
Several buildings on the campus were being checked, and both students and classrooms were searched with the help of a police dog.
Officials searched each of the school’s more than 2,000 students, sheriff’s Sgt. Desiree Rodriguez said.
The lockdown was lifted about 3 p.m., and parents were advised to park at nearby St. John Vianney Church, 1345 Turnbull Canyon Road, to pick up students. They were told they must be listed on the students’ emergency contact card and have photo identification.
“The students and the staff are safe and we had immediate law enforcement response,” school district Superintendent Barbara Nakaoka said.
In addition to district police officers, “I believe we had probably 125 sheriff’s deputies there,” she said.
Parents of students were notified of the incident via automated phone calls as well as the district’s web and Facebook pages.
Though nothing dangerous was discovered in the end, Nakaoka said, “We have to take everything seriously.”