Center School Closed down due to Security Threat

Second Update:
Per the principal's report to parents (which was very detailed and a good review):
  • The student who had the device had brought it to school and hid it somewhere in the food court area. Another student saw this, picked it up, put in his backpack and brought it to the front desk.  (I appreciate the thought but I wish that reporting student had not picked it up.)
  • The school went into Shelter in Place and then the school was evacuated by SPD (as in a fire drill procedure) and attendance was taken outside.  The rest of the building got emptied by SFD.  The students got cold and were moved to a pavilion to stay warm.
  • The students are to have a "debrief" this morning.
Update:  
  • it was a 10th grade boy who brought the Molotov cocktail to school; he was arrested by SPD
  • a fellow student saw it in the arrested student's backpack and reported it to staff
  • no threats by the would-be bomber were made prior to his arrest
  • incident started around 9 am
  • entire Armory Center was emptied on advice of SPD and has since reopened
 end of update

SPS Communications tweeted that The Center School was evacuated this morning around 9:30 am after a student brought a Molotov cocktail to school.

There are no injuries and SPD and SFD are investigating.

Students were sent home for the day.

More to come as I learn more.

Comments

Anonymous said…
This makes it obvious that we immediately need background checks on the purchase of gasoline and anything in a bottle.

It's for the children.

Molon Labe
10/27/14, 12:27 PM
Anonymous said…
Molon Labe-

Great Point. Molotov Cocktails are what is commonly used in school shootings.

What a terrible post after just having had yet another school shooting with innocent children killed.

-gun control now
10/27/14, 1:01 PM
Anonymous said…
I want more details about the incident. Marysville and next school day this. Copycat violence is always a possibility. I want to know concretely what SPS is doing in other city high schools to minimize copycat risk.

It is hours after the incident but there is no information on the district site and I have not gotten an automated call.

Not happy about lack of information.

#watchful parent
10/27/14, 1:39 PM
Anonymous said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
10/27/14, 1:54 PM
Melissa Westbrook said…
Please do not leave anonymous comments.

But to relate to the one deleted, to me, the third rail of public schools is parents.

But woe to the parent (or teacher or principal) that says anything about someone's parenting. Of course, we don't like it but yes, some people make life tougher for staff and other students/parents by not keeping up with their child.

What to do? I don't know.
10/27/14, 2:11 PM
Anonymous said…
My child attends Center. I received a text from her this morning saying all students had been evacuated. Soon after I received the text I got a robo-call from the principal informing parents of the situation -- at the moment. My husband received an email. A follow-up call from the principal came later in the morning describing what had happened.

Inga Manskopf
10/27/14, 2:51 PM
Anonymous said…
Yes of course Molon Labe because molotov cocktails are responsible for over 30 000 deaths in the US annually and active-molotov cocktail-incidents now happen in the U.S. once every three weeks or so (3x more often since 2011 than they did during the 30-year period before that). (end sarcasm).

Obviously molotov cocktails are dangerous but they do not represent a huge and growing public health and safety problem in the US (unlike guns- as shown by the statistics above).

And now that you mention it, perhaps I should point out that a Molotov cocktail is considered a "destructive device' and is subject to the following regulations under the National Firearms Act. All National Firearms Act firearms including destructive devices, must be registered with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Private owners wishing to purchase an NFA item must obtain approval from the ATF, obtain a signature from the Chief Law Enforcement Officer (CLEO) who is the county sheriff or city or town chief of police (not necessarily permission), pass an extensive background check to include submitting a photograph and fingerprints, fully register the firearm, receive ATF written permission before moving the firearm across state lines, and pay a tax.[19] The request to transfer ownership of an NFA item is made on an ATF Form 4.[20] Many times law enforcement officers will not sign the NFA documents. There have been several unfavorable lawsuits where plaintiffs have been denied NFA approval for a transfer.

So as you can see, Molotov cocktails along with other explosive devices are subject to greater regulation, background checks etc than conventional firearms and are implicated in vastly fewer deaths in the US.

Yet still the same old false equivalency arguments are trotted out by people who clearly couldnt give a F*** about the children.

Nothing has changed after Sandy Hook because of people like you who fall hook line and sinker for the NRA, gun industry falsehoods. There are lots of things that could be done to strengthen gun laws and improve gun safety without "taking away your guns". The NRA etc blocks all reasonable progress in this regard not because care about your 2nd amendment rights or keeping America safe. They block progress because care about the billions of dollars in profit they make each year and all they really stand for is maintaining or increasing that.

MDA

10/27/14, 3:27 PM
Isabell said…
No "School Security" at Seattle Center. Just SPD and private security.

Those students should be in a public school.
10/27/14, 5:37 PM
Lynn said…
Isabell - what are you talking about? Center School is a public school. If lack of a security staff member changes that my local elementary must not be a public school either.
10/28/14, 7:31 AM
Beyond Concerned Parent said…
This student had, in fact, made prior threats which were reported to the Principal and, because of a mental health disorder, was assigned a case manager. I brought my concerns to the attention of the Principal on Friday after my Center School student told me that the offending student had made threats to other Center School students. There is a trail of incidents that were being "documented" by the Principal of the students "inappropriate" comments. I was told today that the student was being regularly assessed as to whether he was a real danger. Someone, either the Principal, the district or the person who assessed this kid got it wrong, nearly to our children's and the entire Seattle Center communities peril. I want the policy on verbal threats in school to be made crystal clear by the district and followed through in the schools. It is untenable that our students were put in a position to tolerate threats of harm and that we parents were not notified of the situation so we could assess whether the school was in fact a safe place or support our student to manage a difficult school environment.
10/28/14, 7:25 PM
Jeff Palmer said…
Hello, I am the news editor for The Seattle Flash. If anyone has information regarding the identity of the student who was arrested or any other details, please contact me at seattleflash@outlook.com. You will remain anonymous if you wish.

Thank you,

Jeff Palmer
http://theseattleflash.com
seattleflash@outlook.com
10/29/14, 4:51 PM
Agnes said…
The post soliciting information regarding the identity of the minor in question should be deleted-- it is completely unprofessional, unethical, and is a violation of the minor/child in question-- think FERPA or HIPPA... My heart goes out to all parties that were affected by this event. Hopefully the student will be provided with the services and supports that he needs. Lets model empathy and open-mindedness and come to terms with the fact that there is definitely more to this story--more than we need to know. We need to focus on what we can control as a community/district/school, to ensure that children are receiving the appropriate services and supports across environments using system wide and individualized levels of Positive Behavior Support across environments AND that adults model, teach, provide feedback and support across environments.

The purpose of this "open conversation" should be a place where we communicate and share information and ideas with the intent of making a positive impact on the lives of children. Unfortunately, this individual made a very unwise and unsafe decision. Instead of making a story out of it, let's focus on making a change (with the understanding that we don't need to know the identity of the individual-- besides providing this level of attention may only serve to reinforce the unsafe and maladaptive behavior(s) that we want to extinguish!

Solicitations regarding the identify of this child is unfair to the child, his family, and those that may remain impacted by this act for a VERY long time.

Let's show some integrity and empathy AND let's focus on solutions, not "stories"
10/30/14, 1:31 AM
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