Okanogan County Sherriff Paul Budrow said parents who send their children to LBHS and MVE should be thankful to the town of Winthrop for allowing the marshal’s office to serve the school in an emergency.
“The town of Winthrop is very gracious in allowing them to leave their community to come out to us. They back me up all the time, but they don’t have to,” said Budrow. “The town could say no, you’re not going outside the city limits. If that happened, we are in a world of hurt. [In the] sheriff’s office, I’m the only one that lives over here right now, and they don’t call me for everything. They call me for the major emergency stuff.”
Budrow said he was not contacted by his office about last week’s threat of a school shooting because it was not an active shooter situation, but Winthrop Marshal Ty Sheehan contacted him to brief him on what was going on. Budrow was at the school the following morning.
At an impromptu Q&A last week in the MVE gymnasium following public comments at a regularly scheduled school board meeting, several parents complained about MVE and modular buildings not being secured during this situation. Sheehan said he had every deputy within a 50 mile radius at the school. Budrow said he has a shortage of five deputies and could not call on more than one unless there was an active shooter situation.
There were a total of five officers at the school March 11: three from the marshal’s office, one county deputy and the sheriff.
When asked by the audience if fathers could be part of security for the school, Budrow replied, “100 percent. You get the school to be ready, 100%.”
Budrow also said he is open to having an officer at the school, as had been in the past.
One parent said, “Knowing that all campuses can’t be protected should mean no one goes to school.”
“I get the desire to have schools closed at the slightest hint of anything, but genuinely, the nationwide, statewide protocols were followed perfectly. The staff up here could not have acted faster or better than they did,” Sheehan replied.
If there was an active shooter, Budrow said the school would have been in a lockdown.
“Every deputy, every patrol man, everybody who is going to respond, fire department, EMS, everybody is coming to this location. I don’t care if they’re from Oroville, Brewster, whatever. They are coming to us to assist us in an active shooter situation…. My sergeant’s coming, my chiefs are coming, everybody is coming to this location,” said Budrow.
Budrow said the sheriff’s office and his deputies followed all protocols.
Superintendent Tom Venable also told attendees earlier during the school board meeting that he would have closed the schools if he did not receive confirmation from law enforcement that it was safe to remain open.
Budrow called on parents to thank Winthrop Town Council for allowing their marshal to serve calls at the school. “You need to thank Winthrop for allowing that to continue to happen.”
Marshal Sheehan self-dispatched himself and his deputy when the latter heard the call of a threat of a school shooting. Budrow said Winthrop carries liability if something goes wrong.
“A lot of towns think only of liability. They don’t think of the protection of the kids,” he said.
Budrow and Sheehan are active shooter instructors. Budrow said active shooter training scenarios for children may impact them psychologically and only one school district in the county has so far accepted his offer of a training for an active shooter situation. Budrow offered to train parents so they would know the drill and what their children would face in an active shooter situation.
“You’re my students, we have our bad guys and you’ve learned what is gonna happen to your kids when we’re coming through at an active shooter,” said Budrow.
Budrow said the school administrators, from the point of view of law enforcement, did “phenomenal.”
“They did everything exactly per protocol,” said Budrow, who helped write the protocols for the school.
LBHS Principal Elyse Darwood told attendees at the school board meeting that she had verbal and written confirmation that the mother was physically present with her child.
If law enforcement had not apprehended the alleged perpetrator the following morning, they would have requested a search warrant for his residence, said Budrow. They could not have asked for one on March 10, when they received a report of the threat, because the school was closed at that point and was not in danger.
If the child is released from juvenile detention, law enforcement is not allowed to monitor him. “That’s illegal for us to do that,” said Budrow. “It’s all up to the court system to decide what his restrictions are when he gets out.”
Budrow said law enforcement would not be notified when the juvenile is released. For adults, it is public information, but not for juveniles. The alleged perpetrator is being held on $25k bail. Budrow asked prosecutors that they include a stipulation that the mother return her firearm(s) before he is released.
Budrow said he cannot check by name what or how many firearms are in a person’s possession. He needs the serial number on the firearm to check that.
The alleged perpetrator would be required to see a mental health counselor, a standard in such cases.
Budrow, who currently has six children in the school district and two who have graduated, said he sympathizes with parents’ concerns.
“I am embedded in the Methow Valley,” he said. “Whether I’m the sheriff or not, the Methow Valley is my love. My heart is here.”
