SEQUIM — A 16-year-old boy has been arrested after allegedly posting a threat of violence on social media.
Clallam County Sheriff’s deputies took the boy into custody without incident about 4 a.m. Thursday at his residence, the Sheriff’s Office said. He was transported to Clallam County Juvenile Services, the agency added.
The FBI contacted the Sheriff’s Office about 2:15 a.m. Thursday after it was warned by the social media platform TikTok of the student’s post.
“I am going to shoot up Sequim High School tomorrow,” the student allegedly said on TikTok, according to the FBI and the Sheriff’s Office.
The FBI provided information that identified a Sequim residence as the source of the post, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Patrol Sgt. John Keegan contacted Sequim Police School Resource Officer Daniel Martinez to start an investigation.
A suspect was quickly developed and identified as the 16-year-old Sequim High School student. He was arrested two hours later.
Due to the suspect’s age and the ongoing investigation, no further information will be released, Clallam County Undersheriff Lorraine Shore said.
“The Clallam County Sheriff’s Office takes all threats to schools and public safety seriously,” the agency stated in a press release. “We are grateful for the cooperation of TikTok, the FBI, and the Sequim Police Department in quickly addressing this threat.”
Sequim School District Superintendent Regan Nickels wrote in an email to families that district leaders were informed early Thursday of a “social media post involving a threat of school violence at Sequim High School.”
“While the investigation is ongoing, law enforcement has advised our team that there is no known, active threat to our school community at this time and we may proceed with school opening,” Nickels wrote.
Sequim Police Department Det. Kyle Resser said police officers had a presence at schools out of an abundance of caution to start the day Thursday, and they would remain there throughout the day.
Nickels said the district, in partnership with ESD 114, initiated its Threat Assessment Protocol, a “formal, research-based process designed to evaluate and respond to reported threats in a systematic, evidence-informed way and help guide interventions to support the safety of students and staff.”
She wrote that “student privacy laws prohibit us from sharing personally identifiable information about students” (and) that student and staff safety is their highest priority and they “take all threats of violence seriously and act immediately in partnership with law enforcement.”
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