Kamiak grad arrested in threats against school

Published 10:55 pm Thursday, April 29, 2010

MUKILTEO — Mukilteo detectives arrested a 2008 Kamiak High School graduate Thursday after he allegedly posted threats on Facebook that he was planning to open fire at his alma mater.

The former student, 18, was detained for investigation of felony harassment, Mukilteo Police Cmdr. Chuck Macklin said.

The Internet posting — “I’m pulling a Virgina Tech on Kamiak” — was discovered Wednesday night and school officials called in police. It was an apparent reference to the April 2007 shooting that killed 32 people on the campus of Virginia Tech University.

The high school was placed in a modified lockdown Thursday as a precaution, Mukilteo School District spokesman Andy Muntz said.

“We essentially take threats like this very seriously,” he said.

Whether the former student, who is in his late teens, meant the comment as a prank or had another motive wasn’t immediately clear.

Either way, officials said it was no joke.

“We don’t take it that way,” Muntz said.

Extra security was posted at the school. Parent volunteers helped keep a close watch on students and all classes scheduled to be outside were conducted indoors.

By late morning, police had their suspect in custody and the school was taken out of lockdown.

The teen was arrested at his Lynnwood home and booked into the Snohomish County Jail.

Reporter Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437, jholtz@heraldnet.com.