BY KRISTINA HACKER AND JOE CORTEZ

Turlock Journal

A warning not to come to school today that prompted an investigation was determined by law enforcement not to be a threat to Turlock High students or staff.

School officials sent out a message right before school started this morning alerting parents of an alleged threat.

Officials were notified of a conversation between two students in which one warned the other not to come to school tomorrow.

Turlock Police identified the students involved and began investigating the matter, according to Chief Jason Hedden. They also increased police presence on campus.

At around 9:30 a.m., school officials sent another alert stating: “Upon further investigation, we have determined that the allege comment made by a student yesterday was not intended as a threat to the Turlock High School campus.”

Before the second message was sent out, many parents flocked to Turlock High to take their children out of school.

One parent who wished to remain anonymous said that she picked up her daughter from school because the information didn’t sit well with her and she didn’t want to be sitting at work wondering what’s going on and if her child was safe.

“I didn’t feel like security was heightened at all when I came on campus,:” she said, which reinforced her decision to keep her daughter at home.

Lizzeth Licea was on her way to drop off her children at Turlock High when she received the alert about the possible threat.

“My gut instinct was to just keep my kids home,” she said. “I think it’s scary that kids are out there trying to hurt other kids.”

Not all parents were quick to react, however.

“Based on the information we received at that time, we didn’t feel it was necessary to pull our son out of school,” said Mike Vercammen, whose son is a freshman. “I trust the school administration and the relationship they have with the police department to ensure the kids’ safety.”