There are few things more terrifying to a parent than receiving a call that their child has been detained by police or suspended for making a threat against their school.

Years ago, a comment made in frustration, a dark joke, or a crude drawing might have resulted in a trip to the principal’s office and a detention. Today, the landscape of school safety has fundamentally changed. Following a rise in devastating school shootings and violent incidents nationwide, California schools and law enforcement agencies have adopted a rigid, aggressive stance toward any perceived danger.

If your child has been accused of making threats — whether it was a bomb threat, a post on social media, or a verbal altercation with a teacher — you are likely facing a chaotic and frightening situation.

Helfend Law Group provides aggressive, experienced defense for students and families facing these allegations. With over 40 years of experience in criminal defense, attorney Robert M. Helfend can help intervene early, manage the school community and media fallout, and fight to protect your child’s future.

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The reality of ‘zero tolerance’ for school threats

Schools in California operate under intense pressure to identify potential risks before they materialize. This has led to a culture of “zero tolerance” where context often gets ignored.

The vast majority of students accused of these crimes never intended to carry out an attack. These cases often involve:

Impulsive comments made in moments of anger
“Dark humor,” memes, or lyrics posted on social media
Private text messages that were leaked or taken out of context
Misunderstandings regarding student artwork or creative writing

However, school leaders and police do not have the luxury of assuming a threat is a joke. They treat every report as a potential mass casualty event. This triggers a massive response involving first responders, lockdowns, and immediate arrests.

When a report is made, the school district and local police will typically initiate a threat assessment. This process involves teams of administrators, school psychologists, and law enforcement officers who attempt to assess the credibility of the threat.

Criminal threats under Penal Code 422

The most common charge leveled against students in these cases is making “Criminal Threats” under California Penal Code 422. This is a “wobbler,” meaning it can be charged as a misdemeanor or a felony. A felony conviction for criminal threats is a “strike” under California’s Three Strikes Law.

To convict a child of this crime, the prosecutor must prove five specific elements beyond a reasonable doubt:

Willful threat – The student willfully threatened to commit a crime that would result in death or great bodily injury to another person.
Specific intent – The student made the statement with the specific intent that it be taken as a threat (even if they had no actual intent to carry it out).
Unequivocal and immediate – The threat was so clear, immediate, unconditional, and specific that it conveyed a serious intention and an immediate prospect of execution.
Sustained fear – The threat caused the victim to be in sustained fear for their own safety or the safety of their immediate family.
Reasonableness – The victim’s fear was reasonable under the circumstances.

This statute is complex, and the details matter. For example, if a student says, “I’m going to kill you,” but does so while laughing and walking away, or if the “victim” admits they knew it was a joke, the element of sustained fear may not be met.

Threatening school officials under Penal Code 71

If the alleged threat was directed at a teacher, principal, or school resource officer, the prosecutor might file charges under Penal Code 71.

This law makes it a crime to threaten to inflict bodily injury or property damage on a public officer or employee. Unlike PC 422, this charge requires that the threat was made with the intent to cause the official to do, or refrain from doing, any act in the performance of their duties.

For example, if a student tells a teacher, “If you don’t change my grade, I’m going to hurt you,” that could constitute a violation of PC 71. This charge also applies to threats made directly to the school center or administrative offices to disrupt school activities.

The juvenile justice process

If a child is arrested, they will likely be processed through the juvenile court system. While the goal of juvenile court is theoretically rehabilitation rather than punishment, the consequences are still severe.

A minor charged with a felony school threat can be held in juvenile hall (detention) pending their hearing. Prosecutors may argue that the child is a danger to the community, making bail or release difficult to secure without a strong legal argument.

In the most extreme cases, if the student is close to 18 and the alleged threat was particularly egregious or involved detailed planning and weapons, prosecutors may attempt to transfer the case to adult court. This is rare but possible, and it carries the risk of prison time.

School expulsion and disciplinary action

While the criminal case proceeds, the family will simultaneously face the school district’s disciplinary machinery. The Education Code grants schools broad authority to suspend and expel students for threatening behavior.

Under Education Code 48900.7, a student can be suspended or recommended for expulsion if they have made “terroristic threats” against school officials or school property.

The expulsion hearing is a critical juncture. It is not a court of law, but it is a legal proceeding where evidence is presented. If a child is expelled, it creates a permanent mark on their record. It can make it nearly impossible to enroll in other public schools in the district, forcing the student into continuation schools or alternative programs. It can also severely impact college admissions and future employment opportunities.

Parents often make the mistake of accepting an expulsion deal hoping it will make the criminal case go away. These are separate systems. You need a lawyer who can handle the expulsion hearing to protect the student’s education while ensuring that no testimony is given that could damage the criminal defense.

Defenses against school threat charges

Defending a school threat case requires a deep understanding of the intersection between free speech, juvenile psychology, and criminal intent. When evaluating these cases, Helfend Law Group looks for several specific defense avenues.

Lack of specific intent

The law requires that the student intended the statement to be taken as a threat. Defense attorneys frequently see cases where students are “venting” in private journals, Discord servers, or group chats. If a student writes something violent but never intended for the target to see it, they may lack the specific intent required by PC 422.

The statement was ambiguous

For a threat to be criminal, it must be specific and immediate. Vague statements like “You’ll be sorry” or “Watch your back” are often legally insufficient to support a conviction. The defense scrutinizes the exact wording used. If the statement was conditional (“I would beat you up if I wasn’t so tired”), it may not meet the legal threshold of an unconditional threat.

Unreasonable fear

It is often found that the alleged victim was not actually afraid. If the students continued to hang out, play video games, or joke with each other after the comment was made, it demonstrates that there was no sustained fear. Without this element, the charge of criminal threats falls apart.

First amendment protections

While true threats are not protected by the First Amendment, offensive speech is. Teenagers often use hyperbole and violent imagery in their speech, art, and music. Helfend Law Group fights to distinguish between criminal conduct and protected artistic or emotional expression, even if that expression is disturbing to adults.

Parental liability and firearms

A major concern for parents is their own liability. Can a parent be arrested for their child’s threats?

Generally, parents are not criminally liable for the verbal threats of their children. However, California has strict laws regarding the storage of firearms. If a child makes a threat and police execute a search of the home and find unsecured guns, parents could face criminal charges under “criminal storage of a firearm” statutes.

If a child gains access to a firearm and carries it to a public place or uses it to cause injury, the penalties for the parents are severe.

Furthermore, under Civil Code 1714.1, parents can be held civilly liable for “willful misconduct” of a minor that results in injury or property damage. If a bomb threat causes a school to close, the district could theoretically sue the parents for the cost of the response and lost funding, though this is less common than criminal restitution.

What to do if your child is accused

If you learn that your child is being investigated for a threat, you must act immediately. The first 24 hours are critical.

Do not talk to the police

This is the most important rule. Police investigators are trained to extract confessions. They may tell a child that “honesty is the best policy” or that they can “go home” if they just write an apology letter. This is a trap. An apology letter is a confession. Parents should politely but firmly tell the police: “I am invoking my child’s right to remain silent. We will not answer questions without an attorney.”

Unless the police have a valid search warrant, do not consent to a search of your home, your child’s bedroom, or their phone. If they have a warrant, step aside and let them execute it, but do not help them and do not answer questions during the search.

Preserve evidence

While you should not answer questions, you should document everything. If the “threat” was a response to bullying, preserve those texts. If the comment was a joke in a long thread of memes, screenshot the entire conversation to show the context. Do not delete evidence, as this can lead to additional charges, but ensure you have copies of anything that proves the child’s innocence.

Call a defense attorney

Do not rely on a public defender to handle the initial stages of a school threat investigation. You need private counsel who can immediately contact the detectives and the district attorney to present the full context before charges are formally filed.

Contact Helfend Law Group today

Robert M. Helfend has spent decades defending clients in Southern California. He understands that kids make mistakes. He also understands that the political pressure on schools to prevent violence can lead to rigorous over-prosecution of good students who made a single bad judgment call.

The firm’s goal in these cases is twofold: to keep your child out of custody and to keep them in school. We work to show the prosecutor that the student is not a danger to the community and that the incident does not warrant a criminal conviction.

If your child is facing charges for school threats, the consequences of inaction are too high. A felony record can follow a young person for the rest of their life.

Call Helfend Law Group today for a case review. The firm will protect your child’s rights and fight for their future.

Published December 7, 2025.