The third Oak Harbor student in less than a month was arrested last week for allegedly making a gun-related threat, according to court documents.
A 14-year-old student at North Whidbey Middle School is accused of following another student to Starbucks after school and threatening him by displaying a handgun May 25.
Oak Harbor Police Chief Kevin Dresker said investigators don’t know whether or not the boy may have brought the gun to school that day. No juveniles reported seeing it at school and the student reportedly told a friend that he had it stashed outside the school during the school day, he said.
Dresker said police have no reason to believe the gun wasn’t real, although no firearms were recovered when a search warrant was executed. Multiple students reported seeing the gun — and another student handled it — but the boy’s family member claimed it was an Airsoft pistol, the chief said.
Dresker said tensions in the community are understandably heightened after 19 students and two teachers were killed in the May 24 shooting at the elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. Police are aware that gun-related threats at schools and related incidents are more common following school shootings.
“I don’t understand the dynamics behind it,” he said.
The two previous cases in Oak Harbor, however, occurred before and on the day of the shooting in Texas.
On May 12, a middle school student warned another student in class not to come to classes on Friday the 13th because he was going to shoot up the school. Police arrested the boy but found no evidence of any plans, according to court documents.
On May 24, a 12-year-old boy at Oak Harbor Intermediate School allegedly threatened to bring a gun to school to shoot other students and then himself. Police arrested the boy but were unable to ascertain whether he had access to guns, the police report indicates.
In the most recent case, a middle school student told police that the 14-year-old suspect had previously made threats to shoot him if he saw him after school. Then on May 25, a group of students went to Starbucks after school to hang out. Once there, the suspect approached the victim, asked him if he wanted to see his gun, lifted his shirt and revealed what appeared to be a 9mm handgun, the report states.
The victim reported that the boy with the gun followed him and his friends to McDonalds and continued to harass him, the report states.
Afterward, the boy went to a nearby park and allowed another student to hold the gun, the report states.
Oak Harbor police arrested the boy on suspicion of felony stalking, harassment and unlawful possession of a firearm. The boy appeared in Island County Juvenile Court May 27. The judge set his bail at $1,000 and set conditions of his release, including not having contact with four other students involved in the case.
