Quote:BELEN — A Belen High School sophomore was arrested Thursday for making a threat against his high school on social media.

Belen Police Chief Scott Conner said Jonathan Flores, 16 of Belen, is charged with assault on school personnel, public nuisance, disturbing lawful assembly, disorderly conduct, unlawful use of a telephone and interference with education system.

“Mr. Flores has admitted to creating a secondary Snapchat account,” Conner said. “He admitted to sharing it to himself and then sharing it with others. He told the detectives he had no intention of shooting up the school, and that he does not own any weapons.

“He said he only did it to see what kind of response he would get from the school and law enforcement,” the chief said.

Conner said detectives worked with the District Attorney’s Office to determine the charges.

The threat, in part, said “ATTENTION all bhs (sic) students prepare too (sic) see my wrath tomorrow hahaha you all (expletive) up. I’m going to be the next to go down in history you SCUMS (expletive) all bhs, I dare you to go to school tm (sic) I want to see how many people I can take with me.”

Belen police were made aware of the social media threat late Wednesday night, and contacted school district officials, who made the call to place the high school on a two-hour delay on Thursday morning so law enforcement could search the campus.

The police chief said the department’s school resource officer, school security personnel, New Mexico State Police and Valencia County Sheriff’s deputies searched the BHS campus early Thursday morning, and nothing was found out of place.

BPD detectives immediately contacted Snapchat through the social media’s law enforcement hotline to help locate the person who posted the threat.

Conner said when Snapchat gave detectives the user’s IP address, they then contacted the cellphone provider, which also has a similar protocol when it comes to active threats. The provider then was able to give investigators the user’s name and address.

“We were able to track down the 16-year-old juvenile and went to the student’s house in Belen,” the police chief said. “We have interviewed his mother, and she is cooperating with the investigation.

“When detectives asked if he knew why they were there, he said he did not,” Conner said. “So he initially made a denial.”

Conner also said detectives do have possession of the phone in which the threat originated, and a search warrant is being drafted to search the student’s house.

The chief did say Flores hasn’t been subject to disciplinary action at the school but has had truancy issues.

Belen police have also been working with the Los Lunas Police Department regarding another threat made via Snapchat to Los Lunas High School on Wednesday.

“We are working together in an attempt to bring that threat to a resolution,” Conner said.