Student threatens to aim machine gun at LGBTQ+ demonstrators at WA school, cops say
A middle school and high school were placed on lockdown after a student told a classmate he wanted to aim a machine gun at students rallying in support of the LGBTQ+ community in front of the schools, police said.
The boy was taken into custody Monday, June 13, the Kalama Police Department said in a release.
Dozens of students were participating in a walkout at Kalama High School in support of the LGBTQ+ community, according to KOIN 6. The walkout came after a transgender student was reportedly assaulted in the hallways after school on Monday, June 6. The student was treated in a hospital.
On June 13, a male student spoke with another about the demonstration, “expressing a desire to aim an automatic machine gun in the direction of the demonstrators,” police said.
Though they did not see a gun, the student was concerned by their classmate’s remarks and reported them to school administrators, police said.
Police responded to the two schools, which share a campus, at around 12:30 p.m., the release said. The two schools were immediately put on lockdown.
Law enforcement said they located the male student off campus, and he was taken in for questioning.
“[C]riminal charges will be forwarded to the county prosecutor’s office,” the release said. McClatchy News has reached out to the Kalama Police Department for further information.
