By RICHARD WALKER
and KIPP ROBERTSON
North Kitsap Herald

POULSBO — A 16-year-old student was arrested and booked into juvenile detention late Oct. 28 for allegedly threatening to harm other students at North Kitsap High School.

A parent notified Poulsbo police around 4:30 p.m. that day that his son had had a conversation with the suspect, and that the suspect told him he had a “kill list” and planned to take a gun to school and “shoot up the school” on Oct. 29, Police Chief Alan Townsend said.

Poulsbo asked for Bremerton Police and the Kitsap County Sheriff’s assistance in interviewing witnesses. Five officers went to the student’s home, off Clear Creek Road north of Finn Hill Road, around 11 p.m. Townsend said the student “wasn’t surprised” by officers’ arrival.

Noting that the alleged threat came four days after the fatal shootings at Marysville-Pilchuck High School, Townsend said, “We always know we are going to get copycats. A  lot of time it will be joke. Someone will make a comment but not carry it out. This 16-year-old had the capability to carry this out.”

In the home were several guns, registered to the student’s parents, unlocked and unsecured, Townsend said. In the home, officers found writings by the suspect — what Townsend called “odd ramblings” — of which 8-10 attracted their attention. “He told investigators that he never made a [written] kill list, but that he had a list in his head.”

Townsend said he could not yet disclose the content of the student’s writings, nor identify the guns found in the home. The guns are in police custody and Townsend said the parents will have to show that they will secure the guns before the guns are returned.

Townsend said the student was arrested without incident at 11:38 p.m.

Townsend said the suspect was not known to him prior to the arrest Oct. 28.

“We can’t figure out why he’s angry,” Townsend said.

In a letter to parents, guardians and school staff, North Kitsap School District Superintendent Patty Page wrote that police are “confident there is no threat” to the school and that classes would be in session at the regular time Oct. 29.

Townsend said, “We’re confident no one else is involved,” adding that officers would be at the school on Oct. 29 “to assure students and parents that it’s a safe place.”

Page wrote in her letter, “Creating a safe and secure environment for all of our students and staff is our top priority. We are continually reviewing our safety procedures for each campus, including close collaboration with our local law enforcement. Please take time to remind your children the importance of ‘if you see something, say something.’ ”

Townsend said had the parent not called police, and had the son not told the parent, police would not have known about the possible threat.

OTHER THREATS THIS SCHOOL YEAR

On Sept. 9, former Kingston High School student Matthew Smiley was arrested for felony harassment and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, after school authorities told the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Department that Smiley had voiced threats to “shoot up the school,” according to a statement of probable cause. Smiley was charged with “felony harassment for making threats to kill.” Smiley is in Kitsap County Jail, being held on $2 million bail.

On Oct. 23, three Central Kitsap School District schools were locked down for 25 minutes after authorities were notified of a possible gun threat. Investigators later determined the threat was unsubstantiated.