Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Available On Air Stations
Watch Live

Public Safety

Lakeside Mother Sentenced To 1 Year For Threatening School

Sarah Joy Lomaintewa is pictured at a court hearing, Mar. 9, 2015.
10News
Sarah Joy Lomaintewa is pictured at a court hearing, Mar. 9, 2015.

A mother of four who threatened to carry out a shooting at a Lakeside elementary school that her children attended was sentenced Tuesday to a year in jail and three years probation.

Sarah Joy Lomaintewa, 29, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to threatening a school official.

As part of her sentence, the defendant can be released to a drug/mental health treatment program after 180 days, said Deputy District Attorney Daniel Shim. Lomaintewa was also ordered to stay away from schools.

Advertisement

The threats were reported shortly after noon on March 5, prompting administrators to institute lockdowns at Lindo Park Elementary, Tierra del Sol Middle School and El Capitan High School while deputies searched for the perpetrator, sheriff's Lt. George Calderon said.

Within 90 minutes, the security measures were lifted, and students were bused to a nearby commercial parking lot to be picked up by their parents.

Shortly before 4 that afternoon, deputies arrested Lomaintewa in the area of Ashwood and Mapleview streets, near the south end of the high school, Calderon said.

According to a probation report, the defendant told her brother that she was going to "shoot up a school," said Deputy District Attorney Daniel Shim.

Lomaintewa told KGTV 10 News from jail that her family turned her in and that there was family tension over issues involving drug use and religion.

Advertisement

She denied making any threats, saying she would never carry out a school shooting because she loves her four children, who attend Lindo Park Elementary. But Lomaintewa conceded in the televised interview that she was under in the influence of marijuana and methamphetamine when she was arrested, and said she felt embarrassed about the threat allegation.

Shim said Lomaintewa's mother has custody of the defendant's children.

KPBS has created a public safety coverage policy to guide decisions on what stories we prioritize, as well as whose narratives we need to include to tell complete stories that best serve our audiences. This policy was shaped through months of training with the Poynter Institute and feedback from the community. You can read the full policy here.