School shooting hoaxer sentenced to three years imprisonment on Monday

Arcadia SWAT secures Arcadia High School in September, 2012 after receiving a threatening phone call in a wave of calls authorities later said were made by Gerardo Cortez, 26, of Monrovia – Photo by Terry Miller

A Monrovia resident who was convicted and released last year for making bomb threats to a Pasadena school, post office and the Pasadena Department of Public Health was sentenced to three years imprisonment on Monday for a wave of shooting threats he later made in nearby San Gabriel Valley cities.
Gerardo Cortez, 26, pleaded no contest to one felony count of making a criminal threat and was sentenced right after by a Pomona Superior Court commissioner, District Attorney’s Office spokesperson Sarah Ardalani according to a published report.
Cortez made a series of phone calls in September threatening to shoot people with an assault rifle, prompting a wave of lockdowns in schools, a hospital and a mall in Arcadia, Covina, Duarte, Glendora, Monrovia and West Covina. He allegedly started the series of phone calls last September 9 by calling the Covina Police Department.
“I have an AK-47 and I’m going to start shooting people right now,” the Los Angeles Times quoted the caller as saying from a transcript of the conversation.
The caller said he was at “Citrus Medical Center,” but since there was no such hospital in the Valley, police searched the Intercommunity Hospital in Covina, the Queen of the Valley Hospital and the East San Gabriel Valley Hospice in the City of West Covina, and the Foothill Presbyterian Hospital in the Glendora.
The Monrovia Police Department also received a call on September 9 from someone who threatened to shoot an AK-47 at Sante Fe Middle School. Similar threats were also made to the Santa Anita Mall in Arcadia and Duarte High School on September 10 and Arcadia High School on September 12.
Cortez was arrested on September 17 last year as he left his Monrovia home and was initially charged with six counts of making criminal threats and five counts of falsely reporting an emergency.
In October, 2012, Cortez was arrested after he made bomb threats against Washington Middle School in Pasadena. He was charged with three counts of making a false bomb report, three counts of making criminal threats and one count of attempting to make a criminal threat for the Pasadena incident. No bombs were found. Authorities said the caller claimed to be armed with an assault rifle and was nearby.
Cortez reportedly told Pasadena police officers that he had been very angry due to personal problems. Cortez also admitted to them that he had made bomb threats against the middle school.
The Monrovia man was convicted of intent to commit violence through terrorist acts in June, 2013 and sentenced to 16 months, but was released days later. In all, Cortez served seven months of the sentence which included time served.

Gerardo Cortez

More from Arcadia Weekly