US-CRIME-SCHOOL

The school sign in front of El Camino High School in Whittier, California on February 21, 2018 where a threat by a student overheard by a school safety officer may have stopped a shooting. Authorities were alerted, leading to the finding of a cache of weapons in the teenager's home. Marino Chavez, a security officer at El Camino High School in Whittier, southeast of Los Angeles, helped thwart a potential shooting February 16, 2018, two days after the deadly Valentines Day shooting in Florida that left 17 people dead, authorities said February 21. Chavez said during a news conference he overheard a 17-year-old student say he was going to launch an attack within three weeks. Chavez stopped and questioned the student, who claimed it was a joke, he said. / AFP PHOTO / Frederic J. BROWN (Photo credit should read FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)