Police arrested a new suspect Tuesday on suspicion of sending an email threatening a shooting at the Cal State Long Beach campus the day before, authorities said.
Another student initially detained Monday was released from custody after 18-year-old Prateek Devulpally confessed to using the female student’s email to send the threatening message Monday afternoon, Cal State Long Beach Police Department said.
The email was sent as a warning that there were plans to shoot up the campus, CSULB police Capt. John Brockie said.
The teenager was taken into custody at about 2 p.m. in connection with the email that resulted in a lockdown at the school.
Campus security asked students and staff to “move indoors and shelter in place immediately” while police searched the school grounds.
Aerial video from Sky 5 later showed a female suspect being detained. It’s unclear whether Devulpally and the student knew each other.
Photos posted online during the campus scare show teachers and students barricaded inside classrooms. Several complained of not being able to lock the doors during the frightening time.
Some stacked chairs to block doors and tied the door handles shut with phone cables, photos showed.
https://twitter.com/samibrownnn/status/1181352237416599552
Was teaching my lecture during @csulb active shooter. My room has FOUR points of entry—none of which can be locked. All the desks are bolted to the floor. This is what we had do to protect ourselves. We should have doors that lock and clear protocol for these situations! pic.twitter.com/R6RmD6CqM5
— Ragan Fox (@RaganFox) October 8, 2019
KTLA’s Kayla Rogers contributed to this report.
