Latest news with #ClaremontPoliceDepartment
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
2 killed after car crashes into tree in Claremont
Authorities say two people were killed early Monday morning after a single-car collision in Claremont. The crash happened at about 2:10 a.m. on East 6th Street, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department. When police officers arrived, they found a vehicle that caught fire after colliding with a tree. Two people were killed, per the Claremont Police Department. They have not yet been identified. The vehicle appeared to be a Tesla. The cause of the collision is under investigation. A witness told KTLA that they saw the vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed before the crash. No additional details were immediately made available. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Yahoo
‘Swatting' call locks down another Southern California college campus
LOS ANGELES (NewsNation) — Students and faculty at a private Southern California liberal arts college on Thursday rushed to shelter in place as police responded to reports of a possible shooter on campus, only to learn hours later that the report originated from a 'swatting call,' the second such large illegal incident in the region this week. A swatting call is a dangerous and illegal prank in which the caller claims a life-threatening emergency at a specific location, leading to a large emergency response. 'The caller told dispatch that they were in a restroom at Claremont McKenna College Campus, holding someone captive and threatening to harm them,' officials with the Claremont Police Department said in a news release. 'They also stated that they had a bomb and we're going to walk around with a rifle and shoot anyone they saw on the campus.' Judge to hear arguments against pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil The call led to a heavy police presence and chaos on campus for students and faculty. Aerial footage of the campus captured by NewsNation affiliate KTLA showed a SWAT Bearcat vehicle, as well as several police cruisers in front of the college and students, with hands on their heads, being escorted out of at least one campus building. Police were also seen searching students moments before they allowed them to return to at least one of the campus buildings. 'I was just doing some homework, I have a paper due and I just get a text 'potential shooter,'' a student identified only as Gabe said of the incident. 'I look out the window, SWAT teams, cops and it said you got to get off campus, get to safety and lock the doors. We just started going away from campus.' Signal leak: Trump adviser Mike Waltz may have to go, Warner says As officers with the Claremont, La Verne, Ontario and Upland police departments created a perimeter around the school and searched for a possible shooter, school administrators canceled evening classes due to the incident. Two hours after receiving the threat, officials gave the all-clear and lifted the shelter-in-place order. This incident comes just one day after a swatting at Loma Linda University Children's Hospital, which created a dangerous situation for pediatric patients undergoing treatment, their families and hospital staff. NewsNation affiliate KTLA in Los Angeles contributed to this report. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
As hoax 911 calls surge, California lawmakers push for 'swatting' crackdown
Earlier this month, the Claremont Police Department received a chilling 911 report: A caller said they were holding someone captive inside a Claremont McKenna College restroom, carrying a bomb and preparing to shoot anyone they saw on campus. The call triggered a massive deployment of law enforcement and SWAT team members and sent waves of panic coursing through campus as students scrambled to find cover. But the crisis was fake, the result of a "swatting" call, a hoax 911 report made in the hope of generating a large law enforcement response. The incident took place one day after a similar threat prompted a lockdown of Loma Linda University's Children's Hospital. Swatting is a growing problem across the state and country. But California law can make it challenging to hold people accountable for the chaos their threats cause. Although falsely reporting an emergency to 911 is a misdemeanor offense, lawmakers are seeking tougher penalties for threats that cause mass disruption and target vulnerable populations such as schoolchildren or hospital patients. Read more: False report of shooter at Claremont college is SoCal's second 'swatting' call in 48 hours Under current law, threats are only considered to be a crime when they are made against an individual — not an institution, such as a school or hospital. Now, state legislators are backing new legislation to close that loophole. 'Right now, California law falls short," state Sen. Susan Rubio (D-Baldwin Park) said in a statement. "Unless a threat names a specific individual, officials have limited options, even when the danger is clear." Rubio is the author of Senate Bill 19, known as the Safe Schools and Places of Worship Act, which would allow prosecutors to charge individuals who make credible threats of mass violence against schools and places of worship, even if they don't name a specific person. The goal is to hold people accountable for making intentional threats, recognizing that even hoax threats can cause mass panic, school closures and expensive law enforcement responses. Assemblymember Darshana R. Patel (D-San Diego) has proposed similar legislation, Assembly Bill 237, which would close the same loophole and also apply to threats made against day-care centers, hospitals and workplaces. "AB 237 will make it clear that threats against schools and religious institutions and hospitals and other locations will not be taken lightly and there are consequences," Chula Vista Police Chief Roxana Kennedy said at a recent news conference to promote the legislation. "This bill empowers law enforcement to hold individuals accountable for wasting valuable resources and instilling fear in schools and in our community." A major motivator for both proposed bills was an incident involving Shoal Creek Elementary School in San Diego. A 38-year-old man sent hundreds of emails threatening a mass shooting at the school, but a judge dismissed the case against him because the threats didn't target a specific person, even though a gun and a map of the school were found at his home. Prosecutors have since refiled the case, naming the school principal as the target of the threats. "The claim that you cannot threaten an entity is beyond false," said Shoal Creek parent Jenny Basinger while testifying on behalf of AB 237. "We are the entity. We are Shoal Creek Elementary. The students, the staff, and the community are the ones left picking up the pieces of the threat." Rubio said she focused her bill on schools and places of worship because these are the most frequently threatened institutions; the senator said she also supported Patel's more expansive bill. Should both bills pass, legislators would work together to combine them into a single law, she said. The FBI reported in January 2024 that agents opened investigations into more than 100 separate threats targeting more than 1,000 institutions in 42 states during a one-month period. Synagogues and Jewish community centers constituted the largest category of targeted institutions, with more than 400 saying they'd been threatened during that period. The second most frequent target was schools and school districts, followed by hospitals and hospital networks. Read more: L.A. County 18-year-old pleads guilty to making 375 'swatting' calls throughout the U.S. "These incidents cause fear and potentially dangerous interactions with law enforcement," the Department of Homeland Security said in a 2024 bulletin. "Swatting calls and hoax threats are a daily occurrence, often come in clusters across the U.S., and are typically made to harass, intimidate, and/or retaliate against their intended target." Last month, a Lancaster teen was sentenced to four years in prison after making more than 375 hoax calls that included threats to detonate bombs, conduct mass shootings and "kill everyone he saw," according to the U.S. Department of Justice. However, many of the cases were difficult to prosecute under current state law. Bevin Handel, a spokesperson for the city of Claremont, said it is the city Police Department's goal to file charges against the perpetrator of the Claremont McKenna College call, but there are several challenges. "The biggest hurdle in holding perpetrators of swatting calls accountable is determining their identities," she said. "Advances in technology allow callers to mask their voices, phone numbers or IP addresses ('spoofing') or make their false 911 calls sound more credible." In addition, she said, current state law makes it challenging to file charges against swatters that "truly reflect the magnitude of the response and the fear and trauma they can cause." Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
26-03-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
As hoax 911 calls surge, California lawmakers push for ‘swatting' crackdown
Earlier this month, the Claremont Police Department received a chilling 911 report: A caller said they were holding someone captive inside a Claremont McKenna College restroom, carrying a bomb and preparing to shoot anyone they saw on campus. The call triggered a massive deployment of law enforcement and SWAT team members and sent waves of panic coursing through campus as students scrambled to find cover. But the crisis was fake, the result of a 'swatting' call, a hoax 911 report made in the hope of generating a large law enforcement response. The incident took place one day after a similar threat prompted a lockdown of Loma Linda University's Children's Hospital. Swatting is a growing problem across the state and country. But California law can make it challenging to hold people accountable for the chaos their threats cause. Although falsely reporting an emergency to 911 is a misdemeanor offense, lawmakers are seeking tougher penalties for threats that cause mass disruption and target vulnerable populations such as schoolchildren or hospital patients. Under current law, threats are only considered to be a crime when they are made against an individual — not an institution, such as a school or hospital. Now, state legislators are backing new legislation to close that loophole. 'Right now, California law falls short,' state Sen. Susan Rubio (D-Baldwin Park) said in a statement. 'Unless a threat names a specific individual, officials have limited options, even when the danger is clear.' Rubio is the author of Senate Bill 19, known as the Safe Schools and Places of Worship Act, which would allow prosecutors to charge individuals who make credible threats of mass violence against schools and places of worship, even if they don't name a specific person. The goal is to hold people accountable for making intentional threats, recognizing that even hoax threats can cause mass panic, school closures and expensive law enforcement responses. Assemblymember Darshana R. Patel (D-San Diego) has proposed similar legislation, Assembly Bill 237, which would close the same loophole and also apply to threats made against day-care centers, hospitals and workplaces. 'AB 237 will make it clear that threats against schools and religious institutions and hospitals and other locations will not be taken lightly and there are consequences,' Chula Vista Police Chief Roxana Kennedy said at a recent news conference to promote the legislation. 'This bill empowers law enforcement to hold individuals accountable for wasting valuable resources and instilling fear in schools and in our community.' A major motivator for both proposed bills was an incident involving Shoal Creek Elementary School in San Diego. A 38-year-old man sent hundreds of emails threatening a mass shooting at the school, but a judge dismissed the case against him because the threats didn't target a specific person, even though a gun and a map of the school were found at his home. Prosecutors have since refiled the case, naming the school principal as the target of the threats. 'The claim that you cannot threaten an entity is beyond false,' said Shoal Creek parent Jenny Basinger while testifying on behalf of AB 237. 'We are the entity. We are Shoal Creek Elementary. The students, the staff, and the community are the ones left picking up the pieces of the threat.' Rubio said she focused her bill on schools and places of worship because these are the most frequently threatened institutions; the senator said she also supported Patel's more expansive bill. Should both bills pass, legislators would work together to combine them into a single law, she said. The FBI reported in January 2024 that agents opened investigations into more than 100 separate threats targeting more than 1,000 institutions in 42 states during a one-month period. Synagogues and Jewish community centers constituted the largest category of targeted institutions, with more than 400 saying they'd been threatened during that period. The second most frequent target was schools and school districts, followed by hospitals and hospital networks. 'These incidents cause fear and potentially dangerous interactions with law enforcement,' the Department of Homeland Security said in a 2024 bulletin. 'Swatting calls and hoax threats are a daily occurrence, often come in clusters across the U.S., and are typically made to harass, intimidate, and/or retaliate against their intended target.' Last month, a Lancaster teen was sentenced to four years in prison after making more than 375 hoax calls that included threats to detonate bombs, conduct mass shootings and 'kill everyone he saw,' according to the U.S. Department of Justice. However, many of the cases were difficult to prosecute under current state law. Bevin Handel, a spokesperson for the city of Claremont, said it is the city Police Department's goal to file charges against the perpetrator of the Claremont McKenna College call, but there are several challenges. 'The biggest hurdle in holding perpetrators of swatting calls accountable is determining their identities,' she said. 'Advances in technology allow callers to mask their voices, phone numbers or IP addresses ('spoofing') or make their false 911 calls sound more credible.' In addition, she said, current state law makes it challenging to file charges against swatters that 'truly reflect the magnitude of the response and the fear and trauma they can cause.'
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Yahoo
Possible active shooter reported at Claremont McKenna College. Students warned to shelter in place
Students were warned to shelter in place at Claremont McKenna College and police worked to clear the area following reports of a possible active shooter Thursday evening. The Claremont Police Department received a call of an active shooter on campus around 5 p.m. and was working with regional agencies to respond to the potential threat, the department said in a 6:20 p.m. statement. The college said that a shelter in place order has been issued while police work to ensure the campus is secure in a 5:50 p.m. alert posted on its website. The incident comes one day after a swatting call for an armed shooter prompted a massive police response and evacuations at Loma Linda Children's Hospital in San Bernardino County. That report was unfounded and no one was injured. All five undergraduate college campuses that are part of the Claremont consortium — Pomona College, Scripps College, Claremont McKenna College, Harvey Mudd College and Pitzer College — received a campus safety alert at 4:55 p.m. notifying them of police activity at Claremont McKenna College and warning them to stay away from the area, according to reporting from campus newspaper the Student Life. At 5:15 p.m., another alert was sent warning students to shelter in place if on campus, or stay away if off campus. This was followed by a 6:09 p.m. email from Pomona College Dean of Students Avis Hinkson canceling evening classes and urging students to shelter in place due to an active threat, the student paper reported. Helicopter footage captured by KTLA News showed a significant police and SWAT team response on campus with many resources concentrated around Roberts Pavilion. The news station reported that police were searching students before allowing them to return to at least one campus building. "I was just doing some homework — I have a paper due — and I just get a text 'potential shooter,'' a student identified as Gabe told the news station. "I look out the window, SWAT teams, cops and it said you got to get off campus, get to safety and lock the doors. We just started going away from campus." Claremont Mckenna College Dean of Students Jimmy Doan sent a 6:18 p.m. email with a form to track the location of students, according to reporting by student newspaper the Claremont Independent. "We are thinking about each and every single one of you," he wrote. "Please fill out this short form to let us know your current location. We may use this information to help us track our student community." Students were warned to continue sheltering in place in a 6:45 p.m. status update on CMC's website. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
