On the same day a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas, a 12-year-old student at Oak Harbor Intermediate School threatened to bring a gun to school to shoot other students and then himself, according to court documents.
The boy made the threat before the Texas shooting occurred, but the timing was alarming to teachers and administrators, the police report indicates. Oak Harbor police arrested the boy at his home before he went to school the next day and the school expelled him for the rest of the school year, the report states.
The incident was the second time this month that an Oak Harbor student was arrested for allegedly making a threat to shoot students. A middle school student was arrested May 12.
On May 26, a judge in Island County Juvenile Court found probable cause existed to believe the boy in the latest threat committed the crime of threat to bomb or injure property. He was released to a parent and ordered not to possess firearms and to attend counseling.
On the morning of May 24, the boy got into a fight with another student and later got into trouble for disrupting the class. A teacher then overheard him say that he would bring a .357 caliber handgun to school and “use it” on others and himself, according to the police report.
The boy went on to claim he had access to “a pile of guns” and discussed the operation of specific guns in detail, the report states.
The police report describes the boy as having a complicated home life; he had multiple addresses, living with three different family members on an inconsistent schedule. The pre-teen had a school discipline file that was already an inch thick, the police report states. He once brought a stick to school that was fashioned as a “beating stick” to protect himself.
An administrator at the school said the boy was impulsive and she believed he was capable of bringing a gun to school. She said he had intimidated staff before.
The police report doesn’t come to a conclusion about whether the boy had access to guns.
A school employee said he told her early in the school year that his father bought him a gun. His father had “a weapons offense booking regarding aim/discharge of a firearm,” the police report states.
The district released a statement saying safety remains a top priority and that the thoroughness of the police investigation was appreciated.
”We are thankful for our staff member who promptly reported this situation to our school administration and the immediate action that followed,” the statement said. “We will continue in partnership with our emergency personnel to ensure our campuses remain a safe learning environment for our students.”
This is the second time this month that an Oak Harbor student was arrested for allegedly threatening to shoot people at a school. A 13-year-old North Whidbey Middle School boy told another student he was going to “shoot up” the school on Friday the 13th.
