SNOHOMISH — Police and Snohomish School District officials are investigating an incident near Emerson Elementary School in which a 12-year-old boy allegedly pulled a pocketknife on a 10-year-old after school last week.

The victim told police he never felt threatened, and police believe the knife blade never was exposed.

Meanwhile, some parents are concerned that the school district didn’t notify them about what happened.

The Feb. 19 confrontation took place about two blocks from Emerson, on 10th Street near McDonald Avenue, Snohomish police Sgt. Rick Johnson said Friday.

The boys "exchanged some words," and the knife was taken out, Johnson said.

Johnson said it appears the boy got the knife from another 12-year-old at school. If that’s the case, the boy who allegedly supplied the knife would have been in violation of his probation, he said.

"It’s out there, and it’s becoming more and more prevalent," Johnson said of young children being involved with weapons and on probation. "I hate to say it, but it’s something that’s not rare anymore."

The boy who allegedly showed the knife was suspended for 10 days, but not for that incident, because it happened off-campus and there isn’t proof the boy had the knife at school, district spokeswoman J. Marie Merrifield said. The boy was suspended "for other behaviors that day," she said. The punishment could be revised if police confirm that the student had a weapon on the campus, she added.

"If something like that had happened at school, it would have been an expulsion," Merrifield said, noting the district’s zero-tolerance policy regarding weapons.

The district didn’t notify parents because there was no proof of a knife, because it happened off-campus and because there was no broad threat to other students, Merrifield added.

She said the district notifies parents about such incidents on a case-by-case basis. Merrifield said much thought is put in to whether to send a letter home to parents about an incident, and the district follows the police department’s lead on whether to send a letter.

For example, parents were notified when a man driving by Snohomish High School this week asked a student to get in his car because it presented a danger to other students, she said.

Carrie Johnson, the mother of a fifth-grader at Emerson, said the district should have let parents know rather than allow inaccurate reports to circulate.

"When my son comes home and says, ‘Mom, did you know a kid pulled a knife on someone at school and threatened to kill him?’ I’m freaking out," she said. "I really don’t care who did it, I just want to know it happened."

Reporter Victor Balta: 425-339-3455 or vbalta@heraldnet.com.