Two VHS students arrested over social media threats

Two Vashon High School students were arrested last Wednesday and booked into King County’s Youth Services Center on investigation of felony harassment after posting threatening videos and images online.

The teens, ninth graders at the high school, appeared in the juvenile division of King County Superior Court on Thursday, Nov. 15, where the judge found probable cause for their detention on felony harassment charges. Both residents of Vashon, the students were released to their parents and will be arraigned on Tuesday, Nov. 20.

While their social media posts indicated Vashon High School might be the target of a shooting, Superintendent Slade McSheehy said there was no threat to students.

“Their intent was not an actual threat. Their intent was a prank,” he said, adding that law enforcement officials also believed that was the case at the time of the arrest.

King County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) spokesman Sgt. Ryan Abbott said the agency takes threats against schools very seriously.

“We err on the side of arrest. They can explain to the judge their intent,” he said. “Our job is to keep people safe.”

Late last week, Vashon High School Principal Danny Rock shared what led up to the teens’ arrests. On Monday evening, he received an anonymous tip about potential school violence, and on Tuesday a student shared the same information with him, with the name of the student and vague description of online threats.

He interviewed the student on Tuesday, Rock said, noting that he has worked with the student frequently this year and knows the teen and the teen’s family. His training in assessing potential school threats and his knowledge of the student led him to believe that there was no imminent threat.

In an email Rock sent to school families that evening, he informed them of the situation. He also said that the investigation was ongoing and requested anyone who had the actual postings to provide them to him.

Throughout the day Tuesday and into evening, he continued to receive more information, which he said shifted the context and the nature of the threat. Instead of one student who had posted online, there were two students who had posted items on social media. Rock stated that the teens had independently created and posted the materials. One student had posted two videos and four pictures, while the other student had posted one video, Rock said.

That same evening, according to KCSO’s Abbott, an adult went to the Vashon substation and reported seeing threats to Vashon High School posted online. The person also reported hearing that two students were going to shoot up the school and shared that information with Rock as well.

At 6 a.m. Wednesday morning, Rock said he requested that sheriff’s deputies be at school to reassure students and to speak with the teens in question, who were coming to school with their families.

School officials and law enforcement interviewed the students separately, Rock said, with the parents present for the teens’ interviews with the deputies.

The students were taken into custody about noon, according to Abbott.

Court documents state that one of the teens posted a video message to Instagram and Tik Tok, two social media accounts, with one of the Columbine shooters and himself holding a rifle with the message “This is it, chief, time to put our school in the news.”

They also state the student said harm was not intended and that the posted material was meant to be a joke between friends.

Similarly, the documents state the other teen posted a video image of a gun and the message, “Don’t go to school tomorrow.”

That student, too, said it was meant to be a private joke between friends and not intended to alarm anyone, according to the documents.

Rock noted that some of the content also had been edited to include the faces of other VHS students posing with guns.

McSheehy sent an email to district families Wednesday updating them on the situation.

“At no point in time during this investigation did we or law enforcement make a decision that this threat was imminent or that we needed to close school. We understand the need to provide timely and accurate information to families and staff while also maintaining confidentiality of those involved during an investigation where information is continually evolving,” he wrote in part.

He also thanked people who had come forward with information, noting that student safety is the district’s number one priority.

“From this experience, VISD will continue to learn and refine our efforts to maintain safe schools for our students,” the letter concluded.

In a phone conversation, McSheehy said school officials learned from this incident that some students obtain photos online from school shootings and use them as pranks in an attempt at humor.

“Apparently this has been going on here and across the nation,” he said. “We did not know that. It now gives us more direction about how to move forward.”

On Thursday evening, Rock said the high school was planning a “debrief” for Friday in an assembly setting to talk with students about making threats and the seriousness of doing so, noting that not all students understand that seriousness.

The assemblies, one for freshman and sophomores and one for juniors and seniors, were to be followed by teacher-led conversations.

The students who were arrested were temporarily removed from school, Rock said, and school officials will determine discipline decisions and how best to support them and their families when the court proceedings are finished.

For his part, McSheehy said people who would like to speak with him about this incident are welcome to call him or attend the next Cookie for Your Thoughts session with him from 6 to 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 19, at the Chautauqua conference room.