TIJUANA (Border Report) — Baja California Attorney General Iván Carpio Sánchez says the FBI in the past has notified officials in Mexico about the threat of possible mass shootings in schools south of the border.
Carpio Sánchez says the tips have launched investigations that for the most part have proven to be false.
“These are themes that show up on social networks and are from people looking to get attention,” he said.
The head prosecutor for Baja California said personnel from the U.S. Department of Justice via the FBI has provided information related to possible attacks in Mexican schools.
Carpio Sánchez told reporters that just a few days ago the FBI passed along details of a planned school shooting in Tijuana.
He said an investigation concluded the threat “was credible and was real,” but did not provide any other details.
“We never ignore the importance of these tips and we always follow through by looking into them,” Carpio Sánchez said.
He also revealed that in recent weeks, his investigators have looked into three separate cases, but would only say the events “received the necessary attention.”
According to Carpio Sánchez, Tijuana police have been made aware and left it up to officers to investigate further and determine whether a crime was committed.
He is also recommending that schools consider searching students’ backpacks and bags for weapons.
“This is the only way we can be sure and teachers have also been placed on alert,” said Gerardo Solís Benavides, head of public education for the state of Baja California.
Solís Benavides admitted that in the last two weeks there have been several threats made on social media, and that in one case, one student was found to be carrying a large knife in his backpack as he walked into school.
Carpio Sánchez said the FBI had been involved in alerting officials of these threats.
But he did not say how long the Department of Justice has been involved or how the information is decimated.