Tehama County press release
TEHAMA COUNTY SCHOOL VIOLENT THREAT MITIGATED
TYPE OF INCIDENT: Felony Arrests CASE NUMBER: 25-00875
GENERAL LOCATION: Cottonwood
DATE AND TIME OF INCIDENT: May 11, 2025
SUSPECT: Withheld AGE: 15
ADDRESS: Cottonwood
SUSPECT: Withheld AGE: 14
ADDRESS: Cottonwood
In the evening hours of May 9th, 2025, deputies from the Tehama County Sheriff’s Office received a call from a Tennessee resident. This subject notified deputies of engaging in online gaming with a Tehama County teenager. During their online gaming the reporting party became concerned when the Tehama County juvenile began talking about school violence. The suspect went on to talk about having a manifesto and a plan to target Evergreen Middle School in Cottonwood. The suspect also sent photographs of himself and an accomplice to the reporting party in the same attire and pose as the Columbine school shooters. The suspect and the accomplice had previously planned on executing the attack on Friday, May 9th, before one of them backed out.
Based on this information, Tehama County Sheriff’s Deputies initiated an investigation into these threats. They received the photographs and evidence sent to the reporting party. In working with school administration, they were able to alert the school of the report and obtain identification of both teenage suspects.
Detectives from the Tehama County Major Crimes Unit were called in and took over the investigation. On May 11th, 2025, investigators served a series of search warrants on the suspects’ residences in the Bowman and Lake California areas. Investigators located evidence to substantiate the claims made by the reporting party. The two juvenile suspects were arrested and booked into the Tehama County Juvenile Justice Center for violation of California Penal Code sections 422 PC – Criminal threats, 18720 PC- Manufacturing destructive devices, 18710 PC- Possession of a destructive device and 182 PC – Conspiracy to commit any felony.
Investigators believe based on evidence and statements of reporting party and the suspects that this plan was isolated to the two juveniles arrested by the Sheriff’s Office.
The Tehama County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the school administration for their assistance and involvement in this investigation, the tireless hard work of the deputies and investigators to expeditiously mitigate this threat and as a community we want to send out a heartfelt thank you to the reporting party who heard something and said something, which could have saved a number of lives.
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