Snapchat threat toward Pasadena Rayburn HS leads to student arrest

PASADENA, Texas – Pasadena ISD officials say as of right now, there is no credibility to an alleged threat against Pasadena Rayburn High School.

Officials say there is always beefed up security at the school and all campuses.

Meanwhile, parents say they are still concerned for their kids' safety.

But both parents and school officials agree that they want to send a message out to students to take threats seriously and to not join in making them on social media, or there will be repercussions.

"That concerned me. I'm thinking, gang, or it could possibly be a gang initiation, that really concerned me," said a parent of two Rayburn students who did not want to be identified because of fear of retaliation.

She says after hearing that 17-year-old Chris Mendez was arrested on accusations that he sent a threat against the school via Snapchat, she was terrified.

A screen grab of the alleged threat was taken by a parent and sent to KPRC.

It read, "Shooting up Rayburn with the gang tomorrow Till all y'all (redacted) scream and cry&just (sic) wait around 5th period and all lunches."

According to court papers, the Snapchat message also included a picture of someone holding an AR-15-style rifle.

When school officials got word of the alleged threat through a tip line, they called police and notified parents.

Mendez was arrested and charged as an adult with a felony count of making terroristic threats.

School officials said they want others who want to make these kind of threats to know that they will go to jail, too.

"You make these kind of jokes and you think they are jokes, don't make a joke on social media about doing damage to a school, it's going to come back and bite you," said Pasadena ISD director of communications Art Del Barrio.

School officials say the students' safety is a top priority and the school is always locked from the outside. There is also a tip line where you can let officials know about a threat, and school officers are always on campus.

Mendez appeared in court early Tuesday morning.

He is currently in Harris County Jail on $20,000 bond.