Student arrested at Federal Way High School for gun possession

Published 3:36 pm Friday, December 11, 2015

Federal Way police arrested a 17-year-old male Federal Way High School student after finding a handgun on Friday afternoon.

Federal Way Public Schools spokeswoman Ann Cook said at about 1:30 p.m., three students reported to the office that they received a Snapchat video of a person or student possibly displaying a handgun in a bag. Because Snapchat videos and photos erase themselves after approximately 10 seconds, it wasn’t immediately clear who or what the image depicted. Cook said the students didn’t know the person who sent the Snapchat and initial reports were that a stranger was on campus with a weapon.

The school immediately went into lockdown and police responded.

“During that investigation, I can confirm, yes, they did find a weapon on campus and identified a suspect who was taken into custody without incident,” Cook said, adding that police took the handgun and the lockdown was cleared at 2:10 p.m.

Federal Way police spokeswoman Cathy Schrock said the gun they retrieved was reported stolen from a previous car prowl.

Some Woodmont K-8, Nautilus K-8, Sacajawea and Totem Middle School buses were delayed due to the lockdown.

“I think the real story is this is a stellar example of if you see something, say something,” Cook said. “Our students know if they have a concern, if they feel threatened, if they have information that might impact school safety, to report it to an adult.”

Cook said staff at the school and law enforcement officers responded quickly.

“Our priority is around student safety,” Cook added. “Today’s incident highlights the plans we’ve put in place to respond and our partnership with the Federal Way Police Department allowed a rapid response and resolved that incident really quickly without incident.”

Parents, students and community members can anonymously contact the 24-hour safety line for any school-related concerns at 253-945-SAFE.