18-year old Joshua John Mark Pero (who goes by the name Mark Pero) was taken into custody by sheriff's deputies on campus at around 12:30 today.
Pero who is a senior is facing the charge: threaten crime with intent to terrorize. He was booked into Madera County Department of Corrections late this afternoon.
At 11 am he sheriff's department received a call from a company in Oakhurst (name of the caller cannot be released) reporting that it received a suspicious phone call. Details of that call are still under investigation. But the gist of the message relayed to the department prompted an immediate lockdown - the entire student body was secured while deputies searched for the student who made the call.
At around 12pm Sergeant Matt Mollet notified the department that he had the suspect in custody - who was not armed.
Students were in lock down between 11:00 am and 12:45 pm. When the lock down was lifted, students were released from campus and allowed to go home.
SAR testing had been scheduled today and was, as a result of the bogus call, cancelled.
It is not known when the school can reissue the test or what it cost the district in financial losses due to the cancellation.
