Parents keep students home after threats against Riverside Poly High School

RIVERSIDE, Calif. - Many parents kept their children home from school Monday after multiple threats against Riverside Poly High School were reported on social media over the weekend.

It started with fights on campus last Thursday and Friday. Cell phone videos of the fights were posted on social media, littered with foul language, spitting and lots of punches. There were some injuries, but authorities said all of them were minor.

Those fights were followed by social media threats: images with guns and threatening words, even one that police said may have been generated by artificial intelligence.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Riverside-area high school reports school threats days after several fights break out

Riverside Police Officer Ryan Railsback said the fights and the threats certainly had an impact on students and their parents.

"It's scaring them, and some kept their kids home," Railsback said, adding that school was about 65% empty Monday. The parking lot looked even emptier. For safety, one of Monday's lunch periods was split into two. Officials said so few kids were in classes that some classes were merged.

One parent told FOX 11 they kept their kids home "because of the threats." Another said the same. Another said his boys called him from school, asking if they could go home because it was boring. One said there were only six kids in his class. Their dad obliged.

While police are still investigating the threats against the school, some students don't buy them. 

"I feel like a lot of them are fake," one student said.

Railsback said investigations into most of the threats so far have not amounted to much.

"We are not out here saying that this is a hoax. We're just saying that what we've seen so far has not been substantiated to be considered a threat under California law, but we are treating it as such," Railsback said.

Railsback said under California law, a threat has to be directed toward someone or the school in a certain, direct way, "meaning someone is saying ‘I’m coming to the school today and this is what I'm doing.'"

Since last Friday, Railsback said the department has deployed a lot of visible officers to the school. But, despite the increased police presence, some parents are still concerned.

"Well, hopefully tomorrow, if there are no more threats, if we feel like the situation has been handled adequately and there's no further threat, we're going to consider tomorrow, but definitely we're going to see what happens," one parent told FOX 11. Another parent said she's taking the threat very seriously, and doesn't believe the school or police are doing enough.

Others, however, felt good about how the police have handled the whole thing.

"Our police department, they're on the spot, so that makes me feel good," a parent said.

To whoever's been posting the threats, Railsback said to "knock it off," adding that the school resource officer is looking into filing charges, and that at least six kids were involved in last week's fights, but that that number could go up. If convicted, police said the students could be sent to juvenile hall, or put on probation. But Railsback said of the alleged actions, "They don't just affect them. They affect their families, their parents. There's a lot of people they need to think of before they make a decision to commit a crime or school violation."