The 15-year-old arrested for allegedly bringing a gun and bullets to Chief Sealth International High School last Wednesday is now charged with second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm. We obtained the charging papers late today from the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. They include the probable-cause document written by Seattle Police, which we transcribed as follows, minus suspect and witness names:
On 12/16/15 prior to the start of school, at Chief Sealth High School, an ammo clip for a firearm was found on the floor of (teacher’s) classroom. The ammo clip was turned over to Ms. Hammer, the school Principal. A meeting was held by Ms. Hammer that was attended by the Vice Principals and school security, where a plan of action was discussed.
(The school security officer was then directed to the teacher’s classroom) and asked to bring (suspect) to the office. As (the school security officer) arrived at the classroom, (teacher) informed (him) that he had spoken to (suspect) about the ammo clip and that (the suspect) admitted to having possessed it. Based upon his relationship with his students and (the suspect’s) statements, (teacher) had the belief that (suspect) was in possession of a firearm. (Teacher) conveyed this feeling to (school security officer) and left him with the definite impression that (suspect) was currently in possession of a firearm. (School security officer) escorted (suspect) to the office, where they met with Ms. Hammer.
(She) confronted (suspect) about having a weapon and when asked to search his backpack, (suspect) refused … remained defiant and when Ms. Hammer notified (suspect) that his parents were being called, (he) reached into his backpack and withdrew a Sig Sauer firearm. The firearm was immeditaely seized by (school security officer). The firearm had its hammer cocked as (suspect) removed it from his backpack. (Security officer) rendered the weapon safe; no magazine was in the weapon and no round was found in the chamber, although it was reported that (suspect) was under the impression that the weapon had a round in the chamber. (Suspect) stated that he has had the gun with him since the beginning of the school year.
Responding officers contacted all parties in the Office, where it was found that the Sig Sauer .22, Serial #xxxxxxx, was a stolen (verified) out of Pierce County on 4/15/15 … (Suspect) was placed into custody and read Miranda (and) was later transported and booked into (the Youth Services Center).
The charging papers do not include any mention of specific times or timeframe during the unfolding of the incident; the original note sent to parents last Wednesday afternoon said it started just before classes, and police told us they were called around 11:15 am. Seattle Public Schools spokesperson Stacy Howard told WSB last Thursday that this was the first time this year a gun had been found on an SPS campus. The Prosecuting Attorney’s Office says the suspect is due in court tomorrow.
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