WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: WSHS student arrested after suspected threat led to discovery of knives

| Crime | West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

3:22 PM: Seattle Police say officers arrested a 16-year-old West Seattle High School student on Wednesday after what the report summary says started with a “google search that was construed as a bomb threat.” The SPD report summary continues, “The assistant principal brought the student into the office (Wednesday). The student admitted to the google search and was searched in the office. The student had four knives on his person. He was expelled from the school and went home with his father. The assistant principal requested police respond to collect the knives and arrest the student. Officers went to the student’s residence and arrested him without incident. He was transported to (the Youth and Families Service Center) and booked.” We asked SPD for more information on the incident; a spokesperson replied, “By policy, we have some limitations on what we can release regarding threats … For clarity, the threat did not mention knives.” The spokesperson also said the student was held for investigation of “possession of dangerous weapons on school facilities and harassment.” We’re checking with the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office on his status. We have also asked Seattle Public Schools how families have been notified (or will be) of this incident. We’ll update with whatever more we find out.

4:40 PM: An SPS spokesperson explained how the suspected threat was detected: “Seattle Public Schools-owned computers include a monitoring service called Securly. It alerted on some concerning language that was then reported to the district. We assessed the risk and continue to do so. At no time was there a specific threat to the school, students, or staff at West Seattle High School.”

W.Seattle mom October 20, 2022 (3:54 pm)

I’m glad to hear they found the knives before someone was hurt. Not sure if this is related … I saw a large group of adults, wearing shirts with anti-violence messaging, standing along street in front of Delridge. Maybe it’s a regular thing? I don’t usually drive that way.

Billy Bob Robertson October 20, 2022 (10:38 pm)

I see them there frequently.

Kravitz October 20, 2022 (3:57 pm)

If families haven’t been notified yet, I imagine some will see it here first and be pretty ticked off that SPS didn’t.

Gig October 21, 2022 (9:14 am)

They sent a cryptic message last night. No mention of knives.
- WSB October 21, 2022 (9:18 am)
  
  Thanks, The last word I had from the SPS spokesperson at day’s end was ” A message is in process but hasn’t been delivered yet.”

NotOnHolden October 20, 2022 (5:00 pm)

I have very mixed feelings about this. I think SPS escalated this beyond what was necessary to make sure all students and Staff are safe.

Person October 20, 2022 (6:49 pm)

I agree and as I read this thought… eeks guess I would have gotten a call by now if it was mine.I bet a lot pod parents of teen boys can relate.knives are a no no though. Come on man.
R2 October 20, 2022 (7:08 pm)

A kid googling about bombs in possession of several knives? How did SPS escalate beyond what was necessary?
- WS Parent October 20, 2022 (7:32 pm)
  
  No kidding, SPS did not escalate beyond what was necessary. Bomb threats (including searches) are serious and knives are weapons not allowed in school. There have been WAY too many tragedies to ignore this.
- Seattlite October 20, 2022 (7:41 pm)
  
  R2…Agree. Knives can be used as weapons and are unacceptable in a public school environment or anywhere else. Looking up bomb information is suspicious behavior to say the least.
  - Rhonda October 21, 2022 (3:01 am)
    
    Knives are “Unacceptable anywhere else”? Just about every K-12 school cafeteria provides knives and forks. Millions of people use and carry knives everyday for all kinds of tasks. Every kitchen has them. When I was a Girl Scout I would get scolded by my parents for not having my Swiss Army pocket knife/tool with me at school. My teenage son carries his Leatherman Tool (it has knives) EVERYWHERE he goes. McDonald’s hands out plastic knives for free next to the napkins. If we start fearing everything sharp, pointy, or potentially dangerous, then we should be afraid of our own shadows.
    - Alki November 1, 2022 (10:28 pm)
      
      What is wrong with you??? You think carrying kids that are an obvious threat (looking up bombs on a school computer), should be allowed to carry knifes and we shouldnt be scared of that? Just last week at Garfield HighSchool some teenagers got into a fight and one of them stabbed the other one if the face with a knife. But i guess its okay?
- NotOnHolden October 20, 2022 (8:08 pm)
  
  I want to know exactly what was searched and what made the spy ware go off. Could Nitzer Ebb lyrics set it off?Even the statement from SPS says at no time was there a threat. In my current work we have SPD and 911 routing calls to us for scarier sounding stuff that call for de escalation and talking it out; no one getting arrested. This wasn’t a kid sent back to class with an unsearched back pack containing a guns. I want my kid kept safe but I also don’t want to see our school put another kid in the system when other resources could be used instead and they are available and can be made mandatory without arresting anyone.
  - CAM October 20, 2022 (9:45 pm)
    
    When they say that “at no time was there a threat” they are talking about a threat of immediate risk of harm. They are not saying that no threat was made. The charge of harassment usually implies that a threat was alleged to have been made. If someone was at immediate risk of harm the charge may have been escalated to an assault charge.
- Gig October 21, 2022 (9:17 am)
  
  Damned if you do dawned if you don’t.
cshecks October 21, 2022 (9:45 am)

Fully disagree with you. As a parent with kids in school SPS did a fantastic job here. Keep our kids safe. With todays culture it’s imperative to fully eliminate violent any threat to our kids Thank you SPS!
Pat davis October 23, 2022 (9:48 am)

That is a ridiculous comment that the SPD did not respond appropriately! Thank you SPD! I don’t know what’s the matter with you who wrote this: something very bad could’ve happened

clinker October 20, 2022 (7:33 pm)

As a parent of a kid at this school, it’s more than a little eyebrow raising that they’re sending all of their and other students internet data through a cloud service that completely breaks standard end-to-end security.

wutangtaco October 21, 2022 (9:55 am)

It’s not at all. Don’t search bombs while on a publicly-owned computer while packing four knives. Glad SPS caught this kid before he did something more dangerous to his fellow students.
WS Res October 21, 2022 (10:05 am)

How on earth did you conclude that from this story??
Pat davis October 23, 2022 (9:50 am)

I’m glad that the school has screening methods to try to weed out the students who pose a risk. It’s not worth someone being dead as we have seen over and over… Plenty of dead children plenty of dead students and yes the school needs to do what they can to weed out these sick students (with parents that minimize their warped views and inclinations)
Alison October 26, 2022 (6:58 pm)

It’s a school laptop. From my recollection, the students and parents have to sign a form stating that they understand what the laptop can be used for and what it can’t be used for (porn, violence, etc).

Bmc October 20, 2022 (8:17 pm)

No one is ever in agreement on how these situations were handled, Better safe than sorry. Glad he didn’t have guns. Thanks for being proactive WSHS and SPS.

M October 20, 2022 (11:50 pm)

Here-here!
Andrea October 21, 2022 (10:34 am)

Exactly BMC!

Ant October 20, 2022 (8:27 pm)

Good call by SPS on this one. No reason for a kid to have a knife at school, let alone 4. I hope clinker doesn’t expect any level of privacy on a device or network that isn’t his/her own. Key word search, cookie, and IP tracking, etc, are very much the norm for any public network. It’s 2022, not 1994.

Jay October 21, 2022 (6:33 am)

I assume this wasn’t the knife roll of a kid in a culinary program. And four knives are excessive even if he packed a steak and baguette with soft cheeses for lunch. The monitoring is creepy too, especially when the kids are required to enter so much personal data, and passwords. I guess it did it’s thought-police job today. Strange world.
- wutangtaco October 21, 2022 (11:34 am)
  
  The monitoring is a given in today’s cyber world. If you’re using someone else’ computer, especially a public entity’s computer, be certain you’re being monitored. In this case, the school system is required to have monitoring software in order to receive funding. Glad SPS was able to use it to catch someone before a crime was committed.

Nw mama October 20, 2022 (9:28 pm)

Way to go SPS and SPD. As said before, this country has seen way too many mass tragedies to not take this stuff very seriously

Kc October 21, 2022 (8:07 am)

Who knows what the teens history is at the school too . Maybe this is his first time doing something dumb ? Maybe he does bad stuff all the time and this was the final straw ? This day and age schools aren’t gonna let it slide . The may have mercy on him in the courts if he gets his act together . When I was in high school like 20 years ago up in Blaine this happened too. kid made some kind of actual threat in school . Got expelled . But in the end he turned out a seemingly normal kid . I think we are Facebook acquaintances lol . No need to be mean to these people .

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