Santa Rosa, NM (KKOB) – New Mexico State Police, with assistance from the Santa Rosa Police Department and the FBI Operations Center, arrested a 14-year old in connection with a school shooting threat at Santa Rosa Middle School.
According to NMSP, on July 30, authorities received information about an alleged threat on social media to commit an act of violence at Santa Rosa Middle School.
State Police began working with local and federal law enforcement to identify the individual responsible and determine the credibility of the threat.
As part of the threat post, several photographs showed someone holding and showing firearms. Thanks to assistance from the FBI Operations Center, officers identified the owner of the firearms as a Santa Rosa man. During an interview, he confirmed the firearms depicted in the photographs belonged to him. After viewing a photograph of the handgun, he told officers he believed the hand holding the firearm may be his stepsons.
Officers completed a search of the residence, which resulted in the recovery of a handgun, which was identified as the same firearm depicted in one of the photographs associated with the threat. A rifle depicted in a second photograph was later recovered at a separate residence.
Police say after interviewing the stepson, he admitted to using the social media platform Discord to communicate with another individual about a plan to carry out a shooting at Santa Rosa Middle School on August 10, 2026, and livestream the incident. The juvenile further admitted to taking photographs of firearms and obtaining Google Maps images of the school.
As a result of the investigation, the 14-year-old juvenile was arrested and charged with Making a Shooting Threat, a fourth-degree felony and Interference with Public Officials or General Public, a petty misdemeanor.
As a safety precaution, NMSP and Santa Rosa PD provided increased law enforcement presence at Santa Rosa schools on August 10, the first day of school.
