An LBHS student arrested last week for threatening to bring a firearm to school and shoot had ‘at least’ 33 filed complaints at LBHS the last two years and three threat assessments performed during the same time period.
The prior two threat assessments were not reported by the school to law enforcement because they did not meet criteria at the time, according to records obtained from the Winthrop Marshal’s Office through submission of a records request.
The report states there have been 47 “behavioral issue referrals” involving the student so far this school year.
School computers recorded the student doing research on guns, including calibers and types of guns. The report also said the student, who is not being identified because he is a minor, has been involved in several physical altercations, including one where the student made stabbing motions with a pair of scissors but did not make contact with other students.
According to top school administrators, the student was “obsessed with firearms.” The student would “grab random items (like sticks) and pretend it was a firearm. [The student] would make gun symbols as well around other students.” This included “finger guns” and making gun noises.
LBHS received complaints about the student threatening to “slice a student’s throat, kill a cat and do harm to other students” as well as complaints from teachers regarding student’s disruptive behavior.
The student lives with his mother who has been in denial about the seriousness of her child’s behavior and said it is her child that has been bullied, according to the report. The family has declined “resources for behavioral issues” offered by the school.
The student has friends that are also known to administrators “due to their behavior in school,” according to the police report.
Timeline: Monday, March 10, 2025
LBHS Principal Elyse Darwood placed a 911 call at 4:18 pm on Monday, March 10, after receiving an email from a parent who said her child heard a student on the school bus say he is bringing a gun to school the next day and advised other students not to come to school. This statement was made in several locations that day, according to the report.
The student reporting the incident told their mother that they overheard the student say he was going to “shoot up the school,” warning several of his friends to “stay home tomorrow” and “mentioned something about ’emergency exits’ at LBHS,” according to the report. The marshal’s office noted this as an indicator of pre-planning.
The student who reported the threat to their mother said the student “makes threatening statements all the time but today was different and was afraid [sic],” according to the report.
Deputy Stephen Purtell of the Winthrop Marshal’s Office was first to respond after hearing a dispatch to Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) regarding a threat made to the school. OCSO Deputy John Stanfield and Winthrop Marshal Ty Sheehan arrived shortly thereafter. A safety plan was discussed with the school, according to the report.
Darwood issued an emergency suspension for the student within 15 minutes of calling law enforcement and told the child’s mother by telephone that the student should not come to school the following day. The school bus driver was also notified that the student should not be allowed on the bus and was asked to notify the school if the student was seen at the bus stop. The suspension would be in effect until the investigation was completed.
Deputy Stanfied, Deputy Purtell, and Marshal Sheehan agreed there was probable cause to arrest the student for Felony Harassment, the charge for threats to kill.
The officers drove to the student’s residence but were unable to locate the student. They spoke to someone nearby, who was “marginally cooperative.” Marshal Sheehan reports he saw at least three people behind a dirty front window, but could not identify them.
While at the scene, Deputy Stanfield reached the student’s mother by telephone. The mother refused to take her child to OCSO that day but agreed to bring him to the sheriff’s office the next day at 10 am. According to the report, the mother “appeared to be blaming other kids for [the student’s] actions and stated she would just talk to OCSO but did not want [her child] to go to jail.”
The student’s mother is described as “extremely uncooperative and defensive (appeared to be in strong/willful denial of the situation involving [her child]),” according to the report.
The mother confirmed to Darwood and law enforcement that she owns a pistol that is locked up and her child does not have access to it. The mother later said the pistol is in storage outside the home and that her child does not have access to it.
According to Marshal Sheehan’s report, “It was not clear if there was any actual means for [the student] to carry out a plan or to follow through on the threats. It was unclear if [the student] had a firearm or access to a firearm.”
Marshal Sheehan discussed with Darwood “the advisability of alerting the MVSD/other schools in the area to the security threat and to posting an alert to parents/concerned parties.”
“Communication about the incident to parents and other concerned parties was left to LBHS staff (@2000-2100 hrs by this time),” according to Marshal Sheehan’s report.
A plan was made for law enforcement to be at the school the following morning whether the student was arrested the day before or not. According to the report, “Both LE [law enforcement] on scene and LBHS staff felt that the plan as detailed would allow for LBHS to safely proceed as scheduled the following day, with both adequate student/staff safety and minimal disruption to the school day.”
Tuesday, March 11, 2025
All three officers with the Winthrop Marshal’s office arrived at LBHS before the school opened on Tuesday, March 11. Okanogan County Sheriff Paul Budrow was also at the scene and Deputy Stanfield arrived after the school day had started. Securing MVE was discussed but there was only enough law enforcement available to execute the plan at LBHS, according to the marshal’s report.
Entrances were limited to two doors. One officer stood inside each of the two entrances to the school while two LBHS staff stood outside entrances to apprehend the student if he arrived.
LBHS staff apprehended the student’s friends and interviewed them in a school office in the presence of law enforcement to determine if anyone else was involved with the plan. The students’ parents were notified prior to the interviews. The students gave a similar version of events to the original parent’s report.
One of the students interviewed told school administrators the alleged perpetrator “mentioned three separate teachers that [the alleged perpetrator] singled out as being particularly angry with/made threats about,” according to Marshal Sheehan’s report. The report mentions LBHS sixth grade teacher Sabrina Freedman as one of the targets named in the student’s threat.
During the course of the interviews Tuesday morning, students reported that the alleged perpetrator told at least two students the previous day that he had brought a gun to school in his backpack. The alleged perpetrator opened his backpack to show his gun, but quickly closed it when a teacher walked by. Neither of the two students saw the gun and neither reported the incident.
Per Marshal Sheehan’s report, “It is unclear if [the student] was actually in possession of a firearm or not.”
Darwood said LBHS staff checked the student’s locker and did not find a firearm, but did find a stolen computer.
At about noon on Tuesday, the student and his mother met at OCSO where he was taken into custody and booked into Okanogan County Juvenile Detention. The student is enrolled with the Okanogan School District and participating in classes while in juvenile detention. Darwood said she will be notified by the student’s probation officer when he goes before the judge.
The report concludes that the Winthrop Marshal’s office will be working with MVSD and the Sheriff’s office to review and coordinate responses to any future incidents.
Thanks for the good information.
This is obviously a serious situation.
Very scary what’s happening in the schools. It’s no wonder so many parents are homeschooling their kids. Thank you for covering this.
Also important to note that parents were not alerted until Tuesday morning during school drop off via a very vague email. Parents and teachers did not fully understand the situation in some cases for days.
Yes, this is important and worth re-mentioning. It was in an earlier article.