UPDATE: Gatewood Elementary intruder report investigated

5:55 PM: An investigation is under way after a Gatewood Elementary student reportedly encountered an intruder in a school bathroom. The child was not harmed, their parent tells us. Seattle Public Schools spokesperson Tim Robinson says the intruder, described as a man, was gone by the time school-security and police officers arrived. There’s no further information yet about how he got into the school.

ADDED 9:28 AM THURSDAY: Thanks to the parents who have just forwarded the letter sent to families this morning by principal Kyna Hogg:

I want to make you all aware of a situation that happened yesterday at Gatewood’s campus.

Yesterday, a person who is not a part of the Gatewood school community came onto our campus. Our Custodial Engineer saw the person in the bathroom, asked them to leave, and they complied. I reported the incident to Seattle Public Schools Safety and Security and – out of an abundance of caution – also to the Police, both of whom came to campus to ensure the area was cleared and safe. Seattle Public Schools’ Safety and Security will be on campus for our last two days of school (today and tomorrow) as an added safety precaution.

You might have seen in the West Seattle Blog a report that a child encountered this person; I want to clarify that this information is not correct. Gatewood Elementary School does not currently serve any students in-person on Wednesday, and none of the students that are a part of the privately run childcare on campus encountered the person, either.

10 AM: The district has since forwarded us this letter as well. We have a message out to the original person who contacted us yesterday as mentioned above, but have not received a reply.

Katie June 16, 2021 (6:10 pm)

What day did this occur?

WSB June 16, 2021 (6:23 pm)

Today.
- Gator Parent June 16, 2021 (6:32 pm)
  
  The students weren’t on campus today.
  - WSB June 16, 2021 (6:56 pm)
    
    Of the three sources I talked with- parent, police, SPS – this is what I have.
    - MM Ptacek June 16, 2021 (7:08 pm)
      
      Cottage Daycare is on the campus Mon to Friday

Gator Mom June 17, 2021 (8:01 am)

Any new updates? The school has not mentioned anything.

gatewood parent June 17, 2021 (9:15 am)

@WSB: Gatewood just emailed everyone. Wednesday has no students, and no Cottage kids encountered the intruder. So no student/intruder interaction had occurred.Text of the email, it would be great to set the record straight:

Yesterday, a person who is not a part of the Gatewood school community came onto our campus. Our Custodial Engineer saw the person in the bathroom, asked them to leave, and they complied. I reported the incident to Seattle Public Schools Safety and Security and – out of an abundance of caution – also to the Police, both of whom came to campus to ensure the area was cleared and safe. Seattle Public Schools’ Safety and Security will be on campus for our last two days of school (today and tomorrow) as an added safety precaution.

You might have seen in the West Seattle Blog a report that a child encountered this person; I want to clarify that this information is not correct. Gatewood Elementary School does not currently serve any students in-person on Wednesday, and none of the students that are a part of the privately run childcare on campus encountered the person, either.

WSB June 17, 2021 (9:32 am)

Two parents have just forwarded us that letter, which I am adding above (my exchange with the district yesterday included a request for any letter sent to families but so far I haven’t received it). This doesn’t explain why a specific parent would have been notified yesterday, however, but I’ll ask them if they’ve learned further.

Added: The district also forwarded the letter.

Gatewood Teacher June 17, 2021 (9:22 am)

The individual did not encounter a student, and was discovered by the custodian. I am a teacher at Gatewood, and was present on campus. The daycare students were outside at the time.

Mrs. Myrtle June 17, 2021 (12:20 pm)

As a Gatewood parent, it always makes me nervous to hear these reports as many of us in the community live in fear of Ryan Cox returning to this location. I just hope he’s still in jail?

WSB June 17, 2021 (1:14 pm)

I have no info on his status since he spent 4/28-5/6 in custody following the post-release community-custody violation. He is not on the rosters for the King County Jail, SCORE jail, or state Corrections Department. So I can only assume he’s out of custody somewhere.