EVERETT — Two bomb threats at Glacier Peak High School in December that led the principal to lock bathrooms are being blamed on a former student, who allegedly was trying to get out of an assignment.
The threats, found Dec. 15 and Dec. 16, forced students out of their classrooms while the messages were investigated. In some instances students were restricted to their classrooms unless there was an emergency. Bathroom breaks were limited to the periods between classes, and school staff was instructed to regularly check the restrooms.
Some eight months later, Snohomish County prosecutors have a charged an 18-year-old with threats to bomb, a felony that could land the woman in jail for nearly a year.
The defendant was 17 at the time of the threats. She told police that she struggles with anxiety and depression and also uses drugs.
She admitted that she was responsible for three bomb threats at the school: the two in December and another one in April 2015. A fourth attempt Dec. 17 was foiled by an administrative assistant, according to court papers.
Prosecutors say it was that last threat that uncovered the girl’s crime spree.
An administrative assistant was checking a bathroom after two days of bomb threats when she saw the teen come out of a stall, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Edirin Okoloko wrote.
The student asked why the school was on modified lock down, and the staff member explained about the two previous threats. The student washed her hands and then removed a piece of notebook paper from her pocket. She told the woman she found the note on the floor behind a toilet. It was another bomb threat.
She asked the staff member if the school would be emptied again.
The student denied writing the threat.
Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Rebecca Lewis, a school resource officer, inspected the note and concluded that the handwriting was consistent with a threat left the previous day.
Several staff members told Lewis that the student “often leaves class without permission, finds excuses to be out of class, or lies about her whereabouts,” Okoloko wrote.
The deputy reviewed video surveillance from Dec. 16, which reportedly showed the student approach the bathroom, pause as if listening at the door, and go inside.
When confronted by Lewis, the defendant allegedly admitted that she was responsible for the threats and the note she pulled from her pocket, according to court papers.
The teen told police that she’d written the threat in April on a dare. She blamed the other threats on her anxiety. The girl told Lewis that she’s afraid of public speaking and she was supposed to give a speech in class that week.
“All I wanted to do was get out of here and I was willing to do it any way possible,” the student allegedly wrote.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; dhefley@heraldnet.com.
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