Police called, letter sent to families after student brings pellet gun to CSIHS

| Safety | West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

No weapons means no weapons. That’s the reminder from Chief Sealth International High School principal Aida Fraser-Hammer in this letter sent to families this evening after an incident on campus today:

We have had a strong and focused start to the school year and been excited to see our students and families. We continue to work with students to ensure that we have a positive school culture and a welcoming environment for all students.

We also want to ensure that our schools remain safe, therefore I am updating you on an incident at Chief Sealth today. Although no one was threatened or hurt, the situation raises concerns. Today, a pellet gun was found in one of our student’s backpacks. Because of the zero-tolerance policy around weapons, the Seattle Police Department (SPD) was called. Our investigation, in conjunction with SPD is complete, and the involved parents have been contacted. Additionally, the student has been disciplined consistent with district procedures.

As you are aware, adolescent students have complex social dynamics. Ensuring that students know appropriate behavioral expectations and that all students are safe is our goal. We occasionally hear from students that they feel unsafe in the community and therefore maintain carry weapons for protection. Our staff continues to discuss personal safety with students as well as district rules and state laws.

Most importantly, I wanted to let families know about these conversations and ask families to help all our students understand the importance of keeping schools weapon-free as well as the importance of sharing critical safety information immediately with adults at school. I am providing a link to some additional information that might be helpful during these discussions. seattle.gov/police/community-policing/youth-safety-tips

Please be assured that the safety and security of our students is a top priority at Chief Sealth International High School. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Aida Fraser-Hammer, Principal
Chief Sealth International High School

Thanks to the Sealth parent who shared the letter. We appreciate tips and info about all schools’ news and events of all types – good and not-so-good – editor@westseattleblog.com or 206-293-6302, text or voice, any time.

English September 25, 2018 (10:51 pm)

While the message is a good one, I’m taken aback by the sloppy grammar in this missive. I don’t know anything about this school or principal, but I’d expect a more professional response from an educator in charge of a school. I’m not hating here, just surprised a proofreading did not occur.

Scott September 26, 2018 (8:21 am)

Don’t kid yourselves Schools aren’t safe until we have armed guards at all schools and one point of entry.

Myles September 26, 2018 (10:54 am)

Kids are soft these days. I don’t think having armed guards would help by any means. We need to go back to disciplining our kids and teaching them. Starts with the parents. This is a school, not a prison
- Wsprayers September 26, 2018 (11:46 am)
  
  Kids are soft these days? I’m in agreement they definitely need more discipline but I don’t know if I would use the word “soft” to describe our youth-more like entitled brats that have no respect for rules or the law -they are more likely to pull out a gun than pull out their fists-I believe kids should go thro metal detectors when they walk into school-weapons are way too common with these kids these days
Tsurly September 26, 2018 (11:07 am)

Right, because that peventing the loss of life at Stoneman Douglas high school in Parkland, FL where 17 kids were killed in February. The armed deputy on campus fled (can’t blame him for doing so).A more reasonable (and effective) approach would be reducing the number of guns we have and focusing on mental and emotional health.-Signed Mr. Surly, CPL holder and recovering NRA member

Bob September 26, 2018 (11:49 am)

Right better to have our kids go through something like Parkland FL rather than feel like there school is a prison. Oh wait a moment, how many kids will not go on a airline trip because they feel like the airport is like a prison? We know how to protect our airports and courts why do we not know how to protect our schools?

heartless September 26, 2018 (5:46 pm)

“We know how to protect our airports”HahahahahaHAHAAHhaha… Thanks for that.

zark00 September 26, 2018 (12:04 pm)

We know how to protect our airports? lol – that’s hilarious. There is one, and only one, thing that will start to address this problem. RESTRICT GUN OWNERSHIP!!!! 12 guns and 2,000 rounds of ammo were stolen recently – the ammo, on his porch in a box. Yeah – that’s some responsible gun ownership there. If you fetishize firearms that’s on you – the rest of us don’t need a gun to feel ok about ourselves. If that’s your proclivity, then you must obtain training, licenses, be regulated, tracked, and watched. If you own a gun, you are, by definition, a more dangerous individual than one who does not own a gun. As such, you should be regulated, heavily. I should be informed of ALL neighbors who own guns, what guns they have, and how they are stored. Just as I am informed about any sex offender in the area and the crimes they committed. You have rights, until your rights infringe on me, and they have. Game over – your right to own guns has now caused an immeasurable amount of harm to others. Now it’s time to regulate you, watch you, and hold you responsible. If you’re not ok with that, then you are a huge part of the problem, and are implicitly contributing to the murder of children.

Swede. September 26, 2018 (2:02 pm)

@zark00: Was the ammo stored there or it was a stolen delivery? The latter as you know is ‘pretty’ common nowadays…
- WSB September 26, 2018 (2:06 pm)
  
  I believe Zark is referring to this (non-WS FWIW) case:
  http://spdblotter.seattle.gov/2018/09/20/detectives-investigating-after-a-dozen-guns-thousands-of-rounds-of-ammo-stolen-from-south-seattle-home/
  
  It’s not clearly indicated in the writeup whether the opened shipping boxes were originally inside or outside the house.
  - zark00 September 26, 2018 (3:33 pm)
    
    Komo has a detail that the shipping boxes were ‘removed from his home’ – apparently they were inside, taken out, emptied and left on the porch, if Komo is accurate. If they were stolen from the porch, too bad they can’t prosecute this guy for rampant stupidity. The guy had two suppressors stolen as well – because ya know everyone needs silencers to hunt and to provide home protection – such a joke that this is not 100% about the fetishization of guns. I’m male, I have the same affliction. Guns are awesome, I had GI Joes, I get it. But my friends, family, neighbors and random strangers safety is more important than my “fun”. 12 pistols, two silencers, red dots and parts – these are murder tools, that’s all they are, there is no other purpose for pistols and silencers aside from killing human beings. Should be tracking people with murder arsenals like this. If I buy a baseball bat there should be a reasonable expectation that I will play baseball with it. What behavior would it be reasonable to expect from someone who buys a murder arsenal?
    - MsD September 26, 2018 (9:29 pm)
      
      Well, Zark, all I can tell you is I hope you never have someone who is nearly a foot taller than you and over 100 lbs. heavier than you threaten you, stalk you and break into your house because in their mind, you belong to them. And if you do, I hope your maleness and sense of righteousness see you through it. I’ll just go ahead and keep my “murder tool” to make sure the right person walks away, and the right person is carried away, next time.
RC September 26, 2018 (3:51 pm)

“If you own a gun, you are, by definition, a more dangerous individual than one who does not own a gun. “What kinda warped logic is this? I’m a chef, I carry knives in my bag everyday, and by that logic, am I a more dangerous person than one who doesn’t own knives? Knives do harm too.To equate gun owners with sex offenders is all sorts of f—ed up as well. I’m a woman and I intend to carry for personal defense. I go home late at night due to the nature of my job. Are you gonna vilify people like me for owning a gun?
- zark00 September 27, 2018 (10:53 am)
  
  Yes, owning a gun is not necessary to protect yourself and you are far more likely to harm yourself or someone unintentionally than you are to protect yourself. If you are armed with knives, then by any reasonable definition you are more dangerous than someone who does not have a knife. If you are trying to say that a person carrying knives is inherently LESS dangerous than a person not carrying knives – explain. If you choose to carry a gun, you are part of the problem not part of the solution. And yes, I can compare gun owners to sexual offenders because both should be tracked and neighbors should be informed that they are in the area. If the shoe fits, wear it – you own a gun, you carry the gun, you have willingly introduced danger to yourself, others around you, those you care about and strangers, so yeah – you are more a villain than a hero to be sure. With what’s happening in this country, if you carry a gun, I think you are bad person. You carry a weapon with the intent of murdering another human being – that’s all sorts of f-d up to me – wanna be killer – not a nice look.
- zark00 September 27, 2018 (11:52 am)
  
  One who is armed is more dangerous than one who is not – it’s simple logic. Just as, if you are carrying knives, then yes you are a more dangerous human being than one who is not carrying knives. It’s pretty basic – would think if you can follow a recipe you could follow simple logic. If you carry a murder machine, you have the intent of using it to kill another human being – that’s what it’s for. If you have some other intended use for it that would be insane. You may hope you don’t have to use it, but you must know that if and when you do use it you will be trying to take another human life. Good on you – you’re a hero for acquiring a device used exclusively to kill other human beings – is that what you want to hear? Because you’re not – you’re part of the problem. You’ve bought into the NRA/gun nut rhetoric that carrying a gun will somehow make you safe walking home alone at night. It won’t and you aren’t safer, in fact you are in more danger, carrying the gun. Sexual predators are dangerous, and it is pretty widely accepted that a way to mitigate that danger is to inform the public that they exist and are near by. Murder arsenals, weapons with no purpose other than killing human beings, are dangerous. You disagree? How is there not a parallel? You’re paranoid, you have proven your willingness to take a human life, and you have armed yourself with a weapon to do exactly that – you are a dangerous person, and you should be treated as a threat – because you are one. Should you be vilified? If the shoe fits.
  - Jethro Marx September 27, 2018 (2:18 pm)
    
    Zark, your streams of cliches and blind fervor expressed in writing are far more worrisome to me than a chef carrying around the tools of their trade. You don’t like guns, we get it. But murder is a word with meaning, and it wouldn’t be murder to use a gun in self-defense, by definition. All your talk of tracking people and murder machines is lacking perspective. This story, after all, is about a youth with a pellet gun in his backpack, a weapon with limited capacity for murder and one which required neither armed guards nor futuristic person-tracking technology to address. Your kid is probably more likely to die from a bee sting than be shot at school; shall we track and register bees?
    - zark00 September 27, 2018 (3:39 pm)
      
      Comment on knives was simple logic – not sure why it’s so hard for you to follow logic but whatever. “streams of cliches”? lol – what do you even mean – you make zero sense. Blind fervor – blind to what? mass shootings, school shootings, ridiculous numbers of guns for the number of people, 12 pistols, 2,000 rounds of ammo, red dot sights and silencers – stick your head in the sand much?
      Excluding suicides, 15,549 people dies from gun violence in the US in 2017. Bees kill an average of 53 people a year. Care to reassess your asinine take on gun violence? What’s the purpose of a pistol aside from killing another human being? They are made for killing, and intended to be used to kill, human beings. ‘Track and register bees’ is a false equivalency, typically used by people with a weak or no sound argument – google it – learn something today. Dude you LOVE your guns, we get it, just own it. Quit trying to make some twisted argument for why it’s ok for you to be a gun nut – just be a gun nut and do your thing and I’ll try my best to get you tracked and registered so we can keep ourselves safe from you.
      MSD’s post above – Literally intending to kill someone – got a gun with the intent to use it to kill another human being – MSD should not be put in that situation – fooled and lied to about how a gun will protect them. Made to think that they are safe when they are in fact in more danger. MSD you need REAL help, not a weapon. If that person is truly that ruthless and crazy, that gun is statistically more likely to be used against you. You really need to find some help that doesn’t end up in something terrible happening to you because you trusted the lies of the NRA and the gun nuts and the false security that being armed gives you. MSD I forgive your snotty insults about maleness and righteousness as the ranting of a terrified individual – I’m sorry you are being subjected to that, it’s not ok – but you have no idea who I am, what I am, and what my morals may or may not be.
      Question for you gun lovers – how many dead kids is ok with you in exchange for your guns? 5, 10, 30? How many kids have to die before you realize your need to own a weapon is a big part of the problem?
Scott September 28, 2018 (12:57 pm)

“…Now it’s time to regulate you, watch you, and hold you responsible. If you’re not ok with that, then you are a huge part of the problem, and are implicitly contributing to the murder of children…”

I’m sorry your the problem. You have no right to know who owns a gun or not and if you think you shouldn’t know then your out of touch.

Rick September 26, 2018 (12:58 pm)

Bingo there Bob.

Checker September 27, 2018 (4:06 pm)

Question. Don’t most robberies happen when nobody is home? How does a gun protect you and your property when you’re not there?? Also, what % of gun’s in the hands of bad guy’s came from a burglary??

Sorry, comment time is over.