MUKILTEO – A 15-year-old boy was severely beaten Tuesday in front of a large group of students across from Kamiak High School, and detectives say they are investigating the possibility the attack was gang-related.
Zaiah Boone, a Kamiak freshman, said he was beaten in the back of a car by three older boys who had red flags wrapped around their fists. The attack occurred just after school let out for the day.
Zaiah said he had expected to fight one person Tuesday, settling a dispute over a girl.
Instead, he was beaten by three older boys, suffering facial fractures that left him with black eyes and required hospital treatment.
“All I could do was sit there and block,” he said Wednesday.
Mukilteo police say they are investigating possible gang ties.
“We think there was some sort of disagreement in the hallway leading to the incident,” Mukilteo police detective Lance Smith said. “We’re looking at gangs as a possibility.”
Zaiah’s mother, Domini Boone, said she spent several hours in the emergency room Tuesday night as doctors treated her son for numerous injuries to his face.
She said that Zaiah was ambushed and believes the attack was planned and carried out by gang members.
“They tried to kick his brains out. His face is unrecognizable,” Domini Boone said. “There is a gang problem, and no one is saying anything about it. This could have happened to any of our children and something needs to be done.”
Two students have been “severely” disciplined as a result of the assault, said Andy Muntz, a spokesman for Mukilteo School District. Muntz declined to say if the students were expelled from school.
School officials weren’t aware of the incident until Wednesday, Muntz said. He also said that he wasn’t aware of any gang problems at Kamiak.
“We’re not seeing that kind of activity,” he said.
Police say they received a report just after 2 p.m. of about 100 young people gathered across from the high school. When officers arrived, the crowd had scattered. An officer contacted Zaiah, who initially declined to give police a statement, Smith said.
“He was afraid for his life,” his mom said.
She and her son filed a report at the police station early Wednesday morning.
Zaiah said the young men who beat him claim to be associated with the Bloods street gang.
Smith declined to say what prompted investigators to look at potential gang ties. Police in Mukilteo have not seen an increase in gang activity; however, they are aware of a rise in gang crimes around Snohomish County, Smith said.
Snohomish County sheriff’s detectives have identified hundreds of people who claim membership in, or are affiliated with, criminal gangs. Police officers from around the county recently started meeting to share information about gang activity.
Snohomish County Sheriff Rick Bart last year placed a deputy at Mariner High School, which also is in the Mukilteo School District, after a spike in gang activity in the neighborhood, including a homicide believed to have gang ties.
No one has been arrested in connection with Tuesday’s assault near Kamiak. Smith planned to meet with school officials today.
Boone said her son will not be returning to Kamiak.
“He cannot go back,” she said. “His life is threatened. These people wanted to kill him.”
Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com.
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