Man Charged for SF School Threats

San Francisco prosecutors said May 15 that Anatoly Smolkin, 41, was charged with multiple felonies after authorities said he threatened people at two city schools and later threatened city leaders during his arrest. The San Francisco District Attorney’s Office said the case involved an elementary school and a middle school, with one campus requesting police coverage and another going into lockdown for several hours. Prosecutors said they would seek to hold Smolkin without bail and also move to revoke his felony probation. Court records cited by the district attorney say the alleged threats were made between May 11 and May 13. ### Which charges did prosecutors file against him? Brooke Jenkins, the San Francisco district attorney, said Smolkin was charged with two counts of making threats of violence at a sensitive location, two counts of making criminal threats and two counts of resisting an executive officer. All six counts are felonies, according to the district attorney’s May 15 release. The district attorney’s office said the criminal complaint also alleges the offenses were committed while Smolkin was on felony probation. Prosecutors said they were seeking detention pending trial without bail because of what they described as a public safety risk. ### What did investigators say happened at the first school? (sfdistrictattorney.org) Court records cited by prosecutors say a head of school on May 11 noticed a threatening post on one of the school’s social media accounts that authorities allege was posted by Smolkin. The district attorney’s office said the administrator believed the threat was credible because the school had previously reported two similar threats allegedly linked to him. (sfdistrictattorney.org) The release said the message named the school and described shooting people. Prosecutors said the post appeared as a response to a school message announcing new programming for students, and the head of school then asked for police coverage. ### How did the second school incident unfold? (sfdistrictattorney.org) San Francisco police responded on May 13 to a different school after an incident the previous evening, according to court records cited by prosecutors. The district attorney’s office said Smolkin allegedly entered the school parking lot on May 12, approached an adult and made grave threats about people inside the building. (sfdistrictattorney.org) Prosecutors said Smolkin returned to the property on the morning of May 13, shortly before the start of school, and again made threats. The school was then placed on lockdown for several hours with children and teachers inside, the district attorney’s office said. ### How did police identify and arrest him? (sfdistrictattorney.org) San Francisco police obtained surveillance video from the school and immediately recognized Smolkin, according to the district attorney’s office. Prosecutors said officers located him at about 3:42 p.m. on May 13. The district attorney’s office said that during the arrest Smolkin allegedly told officers that numerous city leaders would be shot if he was not released. (sfdistrictattorney.org) Prosecutors included that allegation in describing why they planned to seek detention without bail. ### What do prosecutors say about his record? (sfdistrictattorney.org) The criminal complaint alleges Smolkin has multiple prior serious felony convictions that qualify as strikes, according to the district attorney’s office. Prosecutors said he has 10 prior convictions for making threats. March 24, 2026, is the date prosecutors gave for Smolkin’s most recent felony probation case, a conviction for resisting an executive officer. (sfdistrictattorney.org) The district attorney’s office said the school-threat allegations came less than two months after that conviction. ### What happens next in court? (sfdistrictattorney.org) May 15 at 1:30 p.m. was the scheduled arraignment time listed by the district attorney’s office for Smolkin at the Hall of Justice in San Francisco. Prosecutors said they would ask the court to detain him pending trial without bail and to revoke his felony probation. (sfdistrictattorney.org)