A Thurston High School student’s idea of a joke has gotten him arrested. As KLCC’s Brian Bull reports, the boy claimed via Snapchat to be a school shooter.
The freshman and a girl attending Springfield High School had been talking about a threat investigation happening on her campus. The boy then sent her a message reading, “I am the shooter!”
“The girl responded back with a question mark, and then this boy responded back again saying “I’m on my way,” says Scott McKee, spokesman for the Springfield Police. He says the girl reported the message to her parents and school resource officer. The Thurston High freshman was arrested and sent to the Serbu Juvenile Detention Facility.
“We’re really trying to send a message that this isn’t funny, this isn’t a game, school violence is serious," McKee tells KLCC. "He’s charged with first degree disorderly conduct.”
Rumors of a shooting threat at Springfield High were no more than that. But McKee says everyone needs to take such statements seriously, lest someone ignore something that could signal a genuine danger.
Copyright 2018, KLCC.