LANCASTER – A Facebook threat against the Antelope Valley College campus on Monday has prompted an investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, authorities said.
Early Monday afternoon, several panicked readers sent screenshots to The AV Times from a Facebook account registered to the name “John Takashima.” The readers said they had also reported the threat to the sheriff’s department. View the Facebook page here.
According to LASD inmate records, a 24-year-old named John Takashima was arrested by Lancaster Sheriff’s deputies for an unrelated felony on Sept. 4, and has been in custody since then.
Lancaster Station officials on Monday confirmed that Takashima was in County jail.
“He’s in custody, so he’s not out there fulfilling a wish to go onto the campus and shoot anybody because he’s locked up,” said Sgt. Moore of the Lancaster Sheriff’s Station. Moore said he was aware of the Facebook threat, and said that deputies assigned to Antelope Valley College were “on top of it.”
He said the matter was still under investigation, and no more information was immediately available.
Monday afternoon, the Lancaster Sheriff’s Station issued the following Community Advisory:
“The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is currently investigating a Criminal Threats case which involved a posted message on Facebook and shared on other social media platforms. This posting referenced the Antelope Valley College Campus. The College Administration and Law Enforcement personnel from the Lancaster Sheriff’s Station are working closely to resolve this case. We take all threats serious and will investigate this case thoroughly as normal procedure. The College campus and surrounding areas have an elevated Deputy presence. Anyone witnessing anything suspicious is asked to report it to the Lancaster Sheriff’s Station at (661) 948-8466. Any emergency immediately occurring should be reported by dialing 9-1-1.”
Antelope Valley College also issued the following Campus Advisory:
Unsubstantiated Campus Threat
Antelope Valley College has received an unsubstantiated threat from an individual who was in custody on an unrelated charge at the time the threat was issued.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office is actively investigating the threat and has an increased presence on both the Lancaster campus and the Palmdale center. Please remain vigilant; if you notice anything suspicious, or untoward, please call the security office at extension 4444 from a campus phone or at 661-722-6399.
Antelope Valley College will remain open at this time and for classes this evening.
UPDATED @ 8:20 p.m., 9/9/13: The following press release was issued by the Lancaster Sheriff’s Station just minutes ago:
Detectives and deputies from Lancaster Sheriff’s Station are conducting a criminal threats investigation, which involved the Antelope Valley College. The threat was communicated through Facebook from the user page of John Takashima at approximately 11:00 a.m. The threat referenced possessing multiple firearms and using them to shoot police and personnel on campus. The author of the posting also sent a second message indicating a desire to commit suicide.
Additional deputy personnel supplemented the normally assigned deputies and armed security officers on campus as the regular schedule of college classes continued. Students were advised of the threat and asked to remain vigilant in reporting any suspicious activity to deputies.
Detectives discovered Mr. Takashima had been in Los Angeles County Sheriff’s custody at Twin Towers Correctional Facility since his September 4th arrest for an unrelated felony charge. Detectives have been working very closely with College Administration and Facebook operations.
Additional resources have been dedicated to this investigation to continue to keep the college campus safe. The community is asked to report any suspicious activity to Lancaster Station Detectives Dillard or Rissling at (661) 948-8466.
Maria paesano says
Please Av Sheriffs Dept. I need to talk with someone about this guy and all that is posted on that Facebook page…places he went, pictures ( shoes) significance of reference to bible and constitution. Also connection with guy with gun at Av campus on 20 th. Please contact me or tell me who I should speak with at AV station.
Maria says
Check out post under “health” Active Shooter Drill Held At AV Hospital on I think May 13 th or 16 th. I have a list of ” instructions” from school I worked at ( Lincoln Elementary) designating it as school to be used as hospital and morgue. Told how to use body bags, ID tags and areas to place bodies after ” disaster”. I’m not kidding….
City’s been asking for drills ( I including transportation ) for emergencies that might ” conceivably” happen in the event of any disaster including nuclear. Are they expecting something to happen here? Why all the checkpoint drills ( other than arresting, confiscating vehicles, issuing tickets which = money) we are paying for these ” drills”. Just something else to think about…..
pp says
I even called the school and asked if I should come to school that day. Guess what they said … “Its up to you wether or not you want to risk it.” Wtf I have my first exam that day! Its extremely [removed] important that you have the school on lockdown! Not everybody knows about this shooter. What if a person had no clue about the situation and he ends up getting shot? Was it up to him then to “risk it”. Jeez. The A.V. alwaysssssss has to wait till someone actually gets hurt.
John says
Thats a disgusting response.
fed up in lancaster says
I think the Detectives should be checking the cameras and computers at the city libaray.
Maria says
Uh what happened to the other article that showed what had been written over past several months on his Facebook and pictures?
Oh by the way after I was wrongfully arrested because of mr. HAHAHA and his acomplices at the sheriffs dept I tried to show the district attorney this guys disgusting Facebook page that was filled with his bragging of all the things he was doing and had gotten away with ( HAHAHAHA) but he DID NOT WANT TO SEE IT! Shortly after my phone was taken ( stolen) I am sure it was because of all the things I had saved on my phone including messages from his female accomplice who bragged of her ” police connections ” and her intention of having me either arrested or ” taken out “. ( the title ” massacre” was give. ) His Facebook page was then deleted so between that and no info from phone there was no proof.
Jennifer says
So you knew him? I’m afraid too go to school i have two kids i can’t imagine what it would be like for them to loose there momor dad. Or anybody out there or would be something we would never forget
Maria paesano says
Oh please. You don’t fool me . You know him too don’t you
Maria says
Ok I am now sure that this website is ” monitered ” as well because this is the third time my comments have “disappeared” when I go to submit or publish ( about other subjects as well) Trust me people the list of those that play ” dirty” is huge!
So I will now post or try to post the same message again. First of all, doesn’t anyone notice that the picture of this guy is a picture of someone taking a picture of him, taking a picture of himself? And also the letters on his shirt are backwards like looking in a mirror. So the camera must have been ( hidden) in the mirror of this ” public ” bathroom. Is that in the library does anyone know or somewhere else? Would sure like to know because the next picture of him ( same guy? ) in the library looking directly into the camera lets me know that he knew that one was there. Ok now although the text messages are completely different ( in structure, tone ) doesn’t mean it wasn’t same guy who posted them. It was actually reading the ” HAHAHAHA” messages that I Am ABSOLUTELY POSITIVE I KNOW THIS GUY. He is a deceiver, a liar and a manipulator. I would give the cops this information but it wouldn’t do any good because HE WORKS WITH THE COPS which is why I’m sure they have assured everyone of his innocence without any ” real” investigation into this uh VERY SERIOUS CRIME! Why do you think no cops were at THAT campus? Mr HAHAHAs job is to create these problems and scenarios that are designed to ensure the ” problem” target ( threat to survival of evil doers ) is destroyed.
Gab says
That bathroom might be either the one in the library or the one in the health & sciences building – but I may be wrong.
I checked his account and that post that is screenshot above has been deleted.. what why?
Ruby says
Its a lie, there has been no notable increase in campus security or sheriffs deputies at AVC today….I walked all throughout the campus getting to my classes, and I must admit I felt kind of unsafe, I saw only one sheriff the whole day. This threat should not be Taken lightly , I am seriously considering going to school tommorow, you just never know
Joe says
How many plain clothed deputies did you see?
Ronni Moe says
I feel that the school is handling this wrong. If the kid was at Twin Towers when the threat was made, then someone else is out there wanting to shoot students! the phone needs to be located, finger printed, whatever other forensic analogy that could be done, and the kid who is actually making the threats needs to be found! I am a student and walking around campus scares me right now. I’m reassured repeatedly that “they have the guy in custody” NO! they do NOT have the guy in custody, they have the guy whose Facebook the threat was posted from in custody! This is all wrong!
at_a_different_pace_in_life says
So now in every school shooting, its mandatory for every shooter to carry an AR-15 with military tactical gear? I smell something fishy with this kids Facebook…why would anyone ever like someones suicide post and not say anything about it? To me this is pretty fishy since hes locked up, i doubt he snuck a phone into twin towers
James Sosa says
If he was in jail at the time, them some one hacked his account and posted these threats. Glad to see a fast response !
DrinkYourKoolAid says
It is hardly being “hacked” when most people leave their computers and mobile devices logged on, or using public computers to log on to social networking sites, or even using easy enough passwords for friends to easily guess.
People need to be more cautious with their information. Not only can you have things like this happen, but most people have plenty of information on their facebook accounts to answer security questions at banking/financial websites.
PROTECT YOUR INFORMATION — Your social networking passwords should be just as secure as (but different from) your financial passwords.
fed up in lancaster says
I went on his face book page today. And he even put on a status that was at the library and someone left there face book open and he posted on it. Its obvious that some one else is using his facebook. This is very scary.