A former student of Latitude High School in Oakland was charged with a felony Thursday for allegedly threatening a school official last weekend, according to the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office.
The alleged threats caused the East Oakland school to delay the school year by a day, moving it from Monday to Tuesday, school officials said.
Oakland police arrested 18-year-old Mercury Hayes on Wednesday after receiving a report on Sunday of threats made against the official, whose position at the school was not identified. He was booked into Santa Rita Jail, where he is currently being held without bail, according to the jail log.
According to prosecutors, the police investigation uncovered messages with direct threats and a video showing what appeared to be an assault-style rifle equipped with “high capacity magazines.”
Latitude High School is a charter school in the Fruitvale district managed by Education for Change Public Schools.
Larissa Adam, superintendent of schools at Education for Change, said students alerted school officials to the threats Sunday afternoon, prompting them to immediately file a report with the Oakland Police Department.
Adam declined to provide details about the targeted school official out of respect for their privacy. She also declined to answer whether Hayes was supposed to start school this week or if he had graduated.
OPD did not immediately respond to questions about the nature of the threats.
Hayes was scheduled to appear at the Wiley W. Manuel Courthouse in Oakland on Friday morning for a bail hearing, according to court records.
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This article originally published at DA: Teen used video of assault-style rifle to threaten Oakland school official.