LOS ANGELES (AP) — Authorities have arrested a former Pierce College student for an alleged online threat that closed the Los Angeles campus for about seven hours.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department says 26-year-old Sergio Castanon Jr. was arrested shortly before noon Thursday on suspicion of making criminal threats and a search of his Northridge home turned up an assault rifle, handgun, ammunition and illegal high-capacity gun magazines.
He remains jailed.
Sheriff’s officials say the San Fernando Valley community college was closed after Castanon posted a Facebook warning that students shouldn’t attend class on Thursday.
The college, which has about 21,000 students, was evacuated and searched but nothing was found and classes resumed at 3:30 p.m.
College spokeswoman Doreen Clay tells City News Service it appears Castanon never came to campus.
