Lynnwood high school student arrested for bringing gun to school
LYNNWOOD, Wash. - A Meadowdale High School student has been arrested after admitting to bringing a pistol and ammunition to school.
According to Lynnwood police, the 15-year-old boy admitted to showing the gun to several other students on Dec. 16, one of whom told their parents and the parents notified police.
The pistol and ammunition were recovered from the teen's room. Police determined the gun belonged to a relative and that the teen stole it from that relative's safe several months ago, without the relative being aware.
The teen was booked into the Denney Juvenile Justice Center in Everett for theft of a firearm-domestic violence and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.
RELATED: Additional security at Snohomish High School after social media threat, principal says
This is the second incident to occur in the district in the span of a day.
On Dec. 15, a 14-year-old boy was arrested for allegedly sending threatening texts to another student.
Police say they were called by a Meadowdale student's parents, who said he received threatening texts from a schoolmate. These texts included images of weapons, and also indicated an intent to harm others in the school, authorities say.
Officers went to the suspect student's house, a 14-year-old boy, and arrested him and booked him into the Denney Juvenile Justice Center for harassment and threats.
"The Lynnwood Police Department and the Edmonds School District work collaboratively and aggressively to ensure our schools are safe. The suspects involved in these kinds of cases will be held accountable," Lynnwood police said.
These incidents in Lynnwood are one of the dozens reported across western Washington in the last month.
READ MORE: 13-year-old arrested for shooting threats at North Seattle school
It appears that there is a viral TikTok challenge going around nationwide where students are challenged to make such threats against their school.
In a vast majority of the western Washington cases, the threats were written on bathroom stalls. It's unclear if that is part of the challenge.
In Northshore, where there have already been threats, the district issued a statement on the threats and the apparent "trend:"
"We have become aware of a troubling post that has been shared widely this week on a social media platform. The post refers to a threat to school safety "for every school in the USA, even elementary," on Friday, Dec. 17.
The post appears to be part of a national trend on that platform and did not originate in our school district. We have heard reports from other districts that the same post is circulating in their schools. While we do not believe the threat to be credible, we are closely monitoring the situation and taking it seriously out of an abundance of caution. Our first priority is to keep our students and staff safe."
RELATED: Nationwide TikTok challenge causes several school districts to take heightened precautions
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