News - Local News - On Patrol

POSTED: Tuesday, Dec. 02, 2008

Squalicum gun threat was kids playing with BB gun

BELLINGHAM - Squalicum High and Northern Heights Elementary school were locked down for about an hour Tuesday morning, Dec. 2, for a gun threat, said Tanya Rowe, spokeswoman for the Bellingham School District.

Bellingham Police received a report from a passerby about 9:30 a.m. that a teenage boy was pointing and firing a rifle at another teenage boy in a wooded area near Squalicum High School, said Bellingham Police Lt. Steve Felmley.

Police rushed to the area and arrested a Squalicum student. It turned out the boy and two other Squalicum students were playing in the woods, Felmley said, but no one was in any danger.

The weapon, which turned out to be a BB gun shaped like a rifle, was found by an officer in the wooded area off of McLeod Road but not on school property.

The student arrested could face charges related to brandishing a weapon in public.

Northern Heights was in lockdown because of its proximity to Squalicum. During a lockdown, no one may enter or exit the school but classes continue as normal.