EVERETT — A teenage boy surrendered at the end of a standoff that lasted hours and sent three schools into lockdown Thursday afternoon south of Everett.
He is one of three boys arrested by police after a confrontation Thursday morning within the city. All are 17.
The boys have gang ties, according to police. They had brought guns to an apartment around 8 a.m. in the 900 block of W. Casino Road, looking to confront another teenager, officer Aaron Snell said. They couldn’t find that teen. Instead they threatened someone else at the apartment with their guns, according to police.
“We’re still making sure we know exactly what happened there,” Snell said.
Staff at Discovery Elementary, Voyager Middle and Mariner High schools were alerted around 11:30 a.m. that police were searching for someone nearby. All three schools went into lockdown for a time.
A school resource officer at Mariner found and arrested one of the suspects, Snell said. That officer is a Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy.
A second suspect was arrested outside an apartment in the 12100 block of Fourth Avenue W. Police believed the third teen ran inside to hide. They suspected he might be armed with a gun.
Over the following hours, a SWAT team used a megaphone to order the teen to come out. Officers armed with tactical rifles patrolled the parking lot in camouflage gear. Kids waited alongside yellow police tape to go back into their homes, on a chilly drizzly afternoon. Some passed the time by talking about skateboarding.
Meanwhile, the new mayor of Everett, Cassie Franklin, was hosting a press conference unveiling a plan to address a recent surge in youth and gang violence in the city, especially in south Everett.
As Snell began briefing media about the standoff around 3 p.m., a teenager in a white T-shirt came out of the apartment with his hands behind his head, in the background of the TV cameras’ view. He was taken into custody, peacefully, by the SWAT team.
The three boys were arrested for investigation of felony harassment. Two others at the apartment, ages 16 and 19, were arrested on warrants. Police don’t think those two were involved in the Casino confrontation.
No one was injured in either incident, and no shots were fired.
Caleb Hutton: 425-339-3454; chutton@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @snocaleb.
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