This suspect arrested for making the text threat that locked down Whatcom school
An unidentified youth who contacted police early Saturday, May 28, to report a threatening text was arrested by Blaine Police for the threats made against the Blaine Schools on Wednesday.
Police were notified Friday, May 27, that threatening text messages were sent to three youths that were “very similar to the messages” that sent the Blaine Schools into lockdown on May 25, according to Lt. Michael Munden. All of the messages were on the “Text Now” app.
At about 12:45 a.m. Saturday, Blaine officers were made aware of yet another threatening text. “Officers contacted the ‘victim’ by phone and eventually were able to determine that he was the suspect,” Munden wrote.
“Using information gained by other officers during the day, Officer Jon Landis confronted the boy with the inconsistencies in his story. The boy admitted that he had sent all of the messages stating that he had meant them to be a prank,” Munden wrote.
The youth was booked into the Whatcom County Juvenile Detention Center Saturday on charges of cyberstalking, felony harassment and threats to bomb or injure Property, Munden wrote in an email to The Bellingham Herald.
Blaine classes resume after the holiday on Tuesday, May 31.
The district is “thankful the threats are no longer a looming concern. With this resolution we can now focus on processing the many emotions surrounding the lockdown itself,” Superintendent Christopher Granger stated on the district website Saturday.
Whatcom County’s Mobile Response Team will be on hand Tuesday to support both staff and students, he stated. Additionally, Animals as Natural Therapy will be at the front entrance to each school building with animals to welcome people as they return.
The Wednesday lockdown happened about 24 hours after an 18-year-old shooter entered an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, and killed 19 students and two teachers, which police said certainly had an impact on the lockdown in Blaine, according to earlier reporting in The Herald.
Classes on Thursday and Friday were canceled by the district.
Nobody was injured in Wednesday’s incident, according to a joint release from the Blaine School District and Blaine Police Department, and police said rumors about arrests and guns being found on campus are inaccurate.
A female student in the Blaine School District received two text messages on Wednesday — one at approximately 12:15 p.m. and the second about an hour later — Munden told The Herald on Thursday, May 26.
“The first message was a threat to her specifically, but also said they were going to shoot up the school,” Munden said. “We responded and talked to school officials, but it was very vague and there was no identification.”
Munden said Blaine Police answered with what he called a “soft response,” sending more officers to the schools and parking more patrol vehicles where they would be visible outside the main campus.
After a second text was received, the main campus, which includes the district’s elementary, middle and high schools, was placed on lockdown, and Blaine Police reached out for mutual aid from the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Border Patrol, Munden said.
The school district first reported the lockdown via social media at 2:40 p.m., and after law enforcement had cleared the schools, students were released to waiting parents at about 5:45 p.m.
“I appreciate the patience you, as our community have had this week,” Blaine Police Chief Donnell “Tank” Tanksley stated in an email to media. “ I understand how stressful and difficult it has been. Our community is very special, and we consider it a privilege to serve you all.”
This story was originally published May 28, 2022 at 9:57 AM.
