Staff members at Mountlake Terrace Elementary School plan to take a closer look at their emergency response plan after an armed man running from police tried to enter a classroom of students at the school Dec. 18.
The man was tackled by a police officer in the doorway of the classroom and was subdued with pepper spray.
While no one was seriously hurt during the incident, nine students went to Stevens Hospital after being exposed to pepper spray and were released that day.
“It could have been much worse,” principal Doug Pierce said. “If he had come 15 minutes earlier, we would have had 300 kids lined up outside waiting to go to class.”
On Dec. 19, the last day of school before winter break, staff members met to discuss the school’s emergency response plan. While officials agree that it is a working document, some revisions may be made in the future to further ensure school safety. Changes could include keeping all exterior classroom doors locked at all times, Pierce said.
Additional counselors were available at the school for students and staff the day after the incident, and an all-school assembly was scheduled to commend the work of the police and firefighters involved. A letter to parents explaining what had happened also was sent home.
According to police and school officials, the incident began at about 8:30 a.m. when a Mountlake Terrace police office near the school ran a routine check on the license plate of a vehicle. The officer discovered the listed owner had a suspended drivers license and twooutstanding warrants, including one for illegal possession of a firearm.
When the officer tried to stop the vehicle, the driver continued, pulling onto the sidewalk and running to a classroom of fifth- and sixth-graders at the school. As the man was entering the classroom, the officer jumped on him, doused him with pepper spray and handcuffed him.
The suspect, a 30-year-old Brier man, was carrying a fully loaded semiautomatic handgun and ammunition, according to police. He was later taken to the Snohomish County jail under investigation for a felon possessing a firearm and eluding a police officer.
Pierce, who saw the incident begin from his office window and called for a lockdown, said the teacher had just gotten all the students on the floor shielded by tables and was calling 911 when the man burst in and was tackled by the officer.
Pierce said the man said he wanted to see his child, who attends the school but was not in the classroom, one more time.
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