A 15-year-old Liberty School District student was arrested on Tuesday after the parent of another student alerted the Superintendent about a school threat posted on Snapchat.
Superintendent Kyle Rydell told deputies he was contacted by a parent of another student but said the threats did not mention a specific school or date/time.
The videos on Snapchat showed the 15-year-old making a comment about sexual assault and statements where he said a "person would technically be shooting up a school if they blew it up."
"He also appeared to act out both sides of a conversation/interview where he is being questioned about why he’s being contacted," the Sheriff's Office said in a release. "He answers himself by saying, 'No, not exactly,' to which he replies, 'You shot up a school.' He then replies, 'No, technically I didn’t hit the school' and refers to shooting students."
A deputy contacted the suspect and his mother. The boy admitted to shooting the videos, but would not repeat what he said on them.
When asked why he made the videos, he said he thought it was funny, but had no actual plan to blow up a school.
The suspect was arrested and booked into the Spokane County Juvenile Detention Facility where he was charged with Threats to Bomb or Injure Property, a felony.
"We thank the concerned parent/student and Superintendent Rydell for immediately reporting these threats, allowing them to be quickly addressed," the Sheriff's Office said. "The safety of our children/students/staff and our community is a priority for all of us. It is truly heartbreaking to see some youngsters still believe it is funny or somehow appropriate to make threats about harming or shooting students or bombing schools. Parents, we urge you to take the time to talk to your school-aged students. Don’t assume they know or wouldn’t do something like this, please make sure of it."
With this being the second student arrested in the past week for making threats against a school, Sheriff Knezovich reiterated his zero-tolerance policy when it comes to school threats.
“Spokane County will have a zero-tolerance policy for making threats toward shooting up a school or classmates and if you make such threats, we will arrest you.”
(story & image: KHQ.com)