WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Chief Sealth IHS/Denny IMS threat investigation (updated)

8:58 AM: For the second consecutive day, police and Seattle Public Schools authorities are investigating a social-media post construed as a “potential threat.” Thanks to the Chief Sealth International High School and Denny International Middle School parents who forwarded this message from the schools’ principals:

Dear Chief Sealth and Denny Families and Staff,

We want to provide some information about a social media post shared among our community that is causing concern. Overnight, we received notifications regarding a potential threat.

We are working with Seattle Police Department (SPD) and Seattle Public Schools Safety and Security. The police department and district’s Safety and Security Department are investigating. At this time, we have not determined any credibility to the post.

School will continue as scheduled today, Tuesday, May 9. As a precaution, SPD will have officers on the Denny and Chief Sealth campuses today. We will also have additional district security staff at our school.

The safety and well-being of our students and staff is my top priority. We are committed to doing everything to keep our students and staff safe. Thank you to the students and families who reported this concern to administrators. Please talk with your students about the importance of reporting any threats they hear or see immediately.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Sincerely,

Principal Morales & Principal Lam
Chief Sealth International High School & Denny International Middle School

The notice was timestamped 8:17 am. This comes the day after a similar notice was sent to West Seattle High School families. We’ll be following up.

10:21 PM: The principals sent a followup note later in the day, in which they wrote, “SPS staff has determined that the post is not a credible threat. Denny and Chief Sealth were not in harm’s way because of the social post. … The three students involved are facing consequences. Denny school staff are working with the students and their families to help the students understand that making remarks like these is a very serious matter.” The note went on to recommend resources for discussing appropriate and safe online behavior with young people.

A. May 9, 2023 (9:11 am)

A screenshot of the supposed threat is being shared in mom groups on Facebook.

Curtis May 9, 2023 (9:26 am)

Kudos to principal Morales for welcoming SPD to campus. Time for grown ups to start acting like grown ups.

Anonymous May 9, 2023 (9:35 am)

i am a student from the school and I don’t know if any other students took it upon themselves to send it to the teachers from the school, I will remain anonymous and so will my peers that sent me the warning. i really hope that there will be nothing dangerous going on today, for the safety of the staff, the students, and everyone else. whoever thought it was funny to do so, not funny, really unfunny. I am glad to be able to help the school to be alert, even if it was a “joke”.

Delridge parent May 9, 2023 (11:24 am)

Does anyone know what social media platform these posts are on? Snap? TikTok? Twitter? Discord?
- Anonymous May 9, 2023 (11:59 am)
  
  They were sent to me on discord by one of my friends, a few of my friends warned me to be safe and showed me a image of said threat that was made.
- Laura D May 9, 2023 (12:06 pm)
  
  It was a snap chat or that is what our student told us.
B May 9, 2023 (11:25 am)

@Anonymous – my child is a student there too, and they received a screenshot of it this morning from their friends and then fwd it on to us (the parents), who then helped spread awareness across the community from there. Apparently this was being sent around multiple times beforehand. So good that you all are on the safe side and being diligent. Keep it up and stay safe out there thank you!
- Anonymous May 9, 2023 (12:00 pm)
  
  Good to know I wasn’t the only one who thought of warning the school!
WTF May 9, 2023 (12:01 pm)

Good job to the young folks who did the right thing and ensured those threats were seen by the right people.

WSHS mom May 9, 2023 (10:16 am)

WSHS is also in a shelter in place right now. My daughter reports: ‘Something weird is going on with a bank at the Junction.’

WSB May 9, 2023 (10:18 am)

There’s a report of a robbery nearby. We’ll have something up as soon as we confirm.

Parent with concerns May 9, 2023 (10:25 am)

Do we know what the threat included and where it was posted? Have the individual(s) been expelled or apprehended? Too many times you read that prior to a school shooting there were warnings, suspicious behaviors or threats that were not firmly dealt with. If the perp is suffering from mental health issues they should be placed somewhere where they cannot harm themselves or others. In this age, there should be zero tolerance for threatening schools or student lives.

Frustrated Parent May 9, 2023 (11:15 am)

Well said, parent with concerns! I worry all the fuss and attention is today and it happens later when least suspected! What bothered me about the announcement – thankful they sent one early! – but was it early enough? It’s a parents choice to pull their child from possible harm, not wait until the students are there and say “oh yeah this happened…” when probably a large % of the students already knew about it!
WS HS MOM May 9, 2023 (12:20 pm)

Zero tolerance for threats made to harm or cause disruptions in the daily learning for students. I had to deal with this yesterday for my child and the online threats to WS HS. It’s very concerning two day’s in a row the HS are having to alert us of this threats made via online platforms. Keep our children safe at Seattle Public Schools.

Anonymous staff May 9, 2023 (11:03 am)

I can tell you that the students have been identified and some have already shown signs of concern, but nothing to this level. I would imagine swift and heavy consequences, including emergency expulsion. TBD if administration and the district actually do that but that’s protocol.

Anonymous May 9, 2023 (6:37 pm)

The kids need to be charged heavily. Not just expelled. I’m sorry. This is not just a slap on a wrist let’s learn from this. Kids this age should already know. This is talked about every where in the world now a days. It’s not ok to joke like this. Absolutely not. It’s not funny. I’m sorry

bradley May 9, 2023 (11:06 am)

Not cool yesterday when it’s a one-off AP testing day.

Jethro Marx May 9, 2023 (1:58 pm)

I wonder what would happen if we took all the kids’ phones away, at least while they’re at school.

Concerned Parent May 9, 2023 (4:14 pm)

Do you have a child in Middle or Highschool? Do you know how scary it is to even send your child to school these days? I for one don’t think I would feel safe sending my child to school without a phone. This “threat” or hoax didn’t happen while they were at school, I highly doubt this would solve the problem.
- Jethro Marx May 10, 2023 (7:45 am)
  
  Yes I have a child at Sealth. It’s clear that we view phones differently in terms of what they provide, but texting updates to parents does not seem like an important thing during an emergency. Everybody’s different, I suppose.
  
  If one’s child is not in a gang and not suicidal their chances of dying by gunfire are astronomically small. Chances of a mass casualty event of any kind occurring at their school are also infinitesimal. I know math is hard, and does not soothe us, but as parents we need to add context and perspective to whatever daily nonsense is circulating amongst our children. Car accidents, water, and things like large televisions falling off walls all kill far more children each year than random shooters with assault rifles. I don’t know about bee stings but that too, probably.
  
  As to my question, it sounds like generally, the kids would adjust in a day or two, teachers would benefit a great deal, and a some parents would freak out.
  - Anonymous May 10, 2023 (5:48 pm)
    
    The poster’s narrative above is false and contradicts readily available statistics, empirical evidence, and data. https://time.com/6170864/cause-of-death-children-guns/https://www.kff.org/global-health-policy/issue-brief/child-and-teen-firearm-mortality-in-the-u-s-and-peer-countries/https://www.foxnews.com/us/guns-leading-cause-death-children-cdc.amp
    - Jethro Marx May 10, 2023 (10:52 pm)
      
      I’m not sure what you’re saying is false. I’m not trying to minimize the impact of guns, but the studies you’re pointing to support what I’m saying. Including 18 and 19 year-olds complicates the data, but guns are indeed the #1 cause of death for persons between 0 and 20 years of age. Cars kill more children 0-17, and guns far more for 18-19. The problem is, we don’t want to take action based on what will work, but only what will send the right message. At any rate, rifles, assault or otherwise, are used in a statistically insignificant number of shootings.
    - Jethro Marx May 10, 2023 (11:01 pm)
      
      https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/04/26/what-the-data-says-about-gun-deaths-in-the-u-s/
KW May 9, 2023 (4:21 pm)

I see your point, but I am not sure I would want my child not able to contact me right away if something did happen. I think we really need to teach kids to manage their technology. Maybe it will help them as adults. Just a thought, but i really don’t know what the proper solution is right now.
flimflam May 9, 2023 (4:24 pm)

They’d lose their minds. There is actually an article about this very topic – schools collecting phones before classes start. I’ll try to remember where I read it.
K May 9, 2023 (4:48 pm)

how this would help when the threat(s) came in during off hours, I’ll never know.
Teacher May 9, 2023 (6:51 pm)

Or perhaps students will be so distracted by checking their phones that they won’t listen to safety directions from adults. Furthermore, students who have smart phones in class are distracted on average every seven minutes.
Anywhere but here May 9, 2023 (6:54 pm)

You couldn’t pay me a million dollars to take my kids phone away from him while he’s at school. The dinner table and family gatherings, sure, but at school? Absolutely no way.

w May 9, 2023 (5:04 pm)

i’m a student at denny and there was no extra security that i saw and also the cops were there for like 20 minutes so idk but didn’t seem anything extra

Anonymous staff May 11, 2023 (12:38 pm)

The cops were there until extra district security arrived in the building. By 10am they already knew of one student behind the post. By noon they knew all 3 students and determined it was a hoax.

Anonymous May 9, 2023 (6:45 pm)

I feel like schools need need to take this kind of stuff more serious. I know for certain I reported this to the police the night before. When I spoke with the police I was not the only parent that reported this, there were multiple reports. The schools district still chose to have school. Seattle one day will regret that. With the multiple school shootings Seattle needs to take it a little more serious. Good thing nothing happen but what if it did? Then Seattle district will be on Tv we are so sorry we just didn’t think. SMH. My high school and middle schooler stayed home. Those two schools have too much going on. Someone’s poor baby was found murdered in front of the high school. Someone’s finger cut off with knife. It’s crazy