Gun Magazine Prompts Lockdown At Three CVUSD Schools

“I received a call around 10:30 from the district that something’s happened, the school is locked down,” said a CVUSD parent, who asked to remain anonymous. “I texted my son and he said that it’s a gun in school.”

Hundreds of parents are relieved yet frustrated after three CVUSD public schools that share a campus in the Thermal area were placed on lockdown Tuesday morning.

“My girls, they sent me a text that they were in a lockdown and then maybe 15 minutes afterward, the school called us and gave us an update,” said Elizabeth Avila, a CVUSD parent.

CVUSD announced lockdowns at Las Palmitas Elementary School, Toro Canyon Middle School and Desert Mirage High School in Thermal after a student turned in a magazine with bullets to the administration.

“And he said ‘I’m okay, Mom’, but I’m scared you know.”

It was not immediately known which school’s administration took the magazine. The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department responded and detained the involved student.

This is the second time this school year that the three schools located at the intersection of 66th Avenue and Tyler Street, south of Thermal and west of Mecca, have been placed on lockdown. Back in November 2022, the same schools were evacuated and two students were arrested for possession of a firearm. And just yesterday, students organized a protest over school safety. 

“They’re supposed to be coming to school to learn, instead they just feel unsafe, they just don’t feel secure anymore,” said Avila. 

CVUSD parents are also calling on other parents to be responsible for their own children, saying school officials can only do so much, but accountability begins at home. 

“It makes me mad as well. But those kids, they really need help. I mean, something’s going on and we can’t just blame the school. As parents, we have to do something,” said Avila. 

“It’s only for parents, not schools.”