A 15-year-old girl says she was overwhelmed with emotion when sheriff's investigators told her she was one of 33 students and staff members who were on the hit list of a student at Encore High School in Hesperia.
"I started crying," Madison Argo said. "It was just really shocking because I knew him, like I thought he was a friend."
Argo said most of the people on the list were friends with the student.
Over the weekend, San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies were alerted by a parent that the boy, a 14-year-old eight-grader, had allegedly made a threat on social media. Investigators questioned him and his parents, but didn't make an arrest until Tuesday after they say they discovered a hit list and a plan at his parents' two homes.
"That student had limited access to firearms, as well as there was some information about explosives that was obtained during the search warrant," Sheriff John McMahon said.
On Wednesday, school administrators told parents and students about the arrest, explaining that the boy was kept away from school until he was taken into custody.
"We sent our kids to school for three days — three days — while this was still being investigated," said the girl's mother, Christy Argo. "By Monday we should have been notified."
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Madison Argo says other people on the hit list included the school's founder. She's glad her former friend is now behind bars.
"I don't know if he would have actually gone through with it, but it's possible," she said.
It's unclear if the boy, who has not been identified, will be charged as a juvenile or as an adult, or when he will face a judge for the first time.
Officials said they are confident that the student was acting alone and they are not seeking additional suspects.
