In the past week and a half, Eastside law enforcement agencies have investigated five separate cases of reported threats in public places. Four of those cases were in or near Redmond.

Following initial threats discovered at Redmond High School (RHS) and Juanita High School (JHS) in Kirkland last week that led to both schools being closed on Feb. 5, the Redmond Police Department (RPD) investigated threats discovered at the Regal Bella Bottega movie theater in downtown Redmond and Redmond Middle School (RMS). In addition, the King County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) investigated a threat at Tesla STEM High School near Redmond.

Law enforcement are still unsure whether any the threats are related to each other.

MULTIPLE THREATS IN A FEW DAYS

Redmond Police Chief Ron Gibson said the RHS threat was discovered Feb. 4 in a women’s restroom. He said a message reading, “School shooting on February 5” was written in pen or pencil on a stall. Above this was another message that read, “At Juanita High School too.” Gibson added that the restroom was one that both students and staff are able to access.

Two similar messages mentioning Feb. 5 were found at JHS earlier in the week. The first message at the school was found in the women’s locker room; the second was found in a men’s restroom.

Gibson said the school resource officer (SRO) at RHS is still investigating the threat.

PRACTICED PROCEDURES

The Bella Bottega theater threat was reported at around 6 p.m. on Feb. 5 after staff discovered a bomb threat note in the women’s restroom.

This note was printed on a piece of paper and read, “30 minutes till the bomb goes off. Better hurry or everyone’s dead.”

Gibson said the fact that this threat was printed on a piece of paper was “a little bit different,” as the other threats were handwritten in restrooms. He said this indicates the theater threat was more premeditated. However, when considering the message’s credibility, Gibson said police also accounted for the fact that no specific time or date was mentioned so they did not know when the 30 minutes, stated in the message, would be up. However, he said they assume the message was left in the restroom not too long before it was discovered.

Becky Range, public information officer for the RPD, added that the theater manager told her that staff cleans the restroom about every 45 minutes.

Gibson said upon finding the note, the theater management made the decision to evacuate the building and close the theater for the rest of the night. He commended the theater staff on doing so in a quick and orderly manner, adding that the commander responding to the scene told him that it was clear the theater staff had practiced evacuation procedures.

Washington State Patrol (WSP) K-9 units also responded to the scene.

Upon arrival, law enforcement cordoned off the area, limiting building access, and K-9 units conducted a sweep of the building. Gibson said the sweep was completed at 9:47 p.m.

Once the theater was cleared, staff returned to the building.

Other businesses in the area were advised of the situation, but no other evacuations took place.

TWO MESSAGES IN ONE DAY

The threats at RMS and STEM came Monday morning.

Gibson said the threat at RMS was reported at around 8:15 a.m.

Someone had written on a sink in a women’s restroom, “Killing everyone at 9:30. Five people have guns.” The message was written in marker.

After the message was discovered, the school went into a modified lockdown and officers, in addition to the on-campus SRO, responded.

Gibson said the officers checked classrooms as well as common areas at the school and found no suspicious individuals or items. Officers also spoke with staff and students.

RPD officers completed their search of the school just after 11 a.m. Monday and classes and activities returned to normal.

In addition, school officials discovered a threat message written on a bathroom wall at STEM — a choice school that serves students throughout Lake Washington School District in Kirkland and Sammamish as well as Redmond — on Monday.

Cindi West, public information officer for KCSO, said the threat was vague.

“We (did not ask) the school to take any measures,” she said Monday, adding that KCSO deputies remained on campus that day to investigate.

Upon discovering the message, STEM principal Cindy Duenas sent parents an email message Monday morning informing them of the incident. Once the building was cleared, Duenas sent a followup message to parents. Classes and activities, including after-school activities, remained on their normal schedule on Monday.

“We appreciate the efforts of the King County Sheriff’s Office,” Duenas said in her message.

Like Redmond police, West said they are not sure if the threat at STEM is related to the threats at the other schools or the theater, but they are looking into it.

“While police have not found any of the recent threats to be credible, we have to treat them seriously when they are first discovered,” said Lake Washington School District Superintendent Dr. Traci Pierce. “We can’t take chances with student safety. The presence of police or actions like a lockdown don’t mean students and staff are in danger: They are precautions to take until we get more information.”

CRIMINAL ACTIVITY

Gibson said he is not aware of any incident of school violence in which people were forewarned of potential events.

He said typically, it is not until after something happens that people begin making a connection between a perpetrator and things they have heard the individual say, things they have seen on their social media or any other type of behavior.

Gibson noted that typically, police do not share specific information such as what a threatening message says with the public while they are still investigating. However, in these cases, he said they understand people have been anxious and police wanted to give the community some context for what the department is dealing with at the moment.

Gibson, who responded to the shooting at the New Life Church in Colorado Springs on Dec. 9, 2007, said it is not unusual for police to investigate threats and false alarms at schools in the days before holidays, weekends or on test days.

However, he did stress that such activity is against the law. False reports of explosives and leaving threatening messages that cause alarm in people or a building to evacuate are gross misdemeanors and perpetrators can serve up to 364 days in jail and be fined $5,000.

“This is a crime,” Gibson said. “It is a crime to engage in this activity.”

In addition, he said these types of threats are dangerous because they cause fear in the community. And even if a threat may not seem credible on the surface, Gibson said “we still take it seriously” and will respond with the appropriate amount of resources.

He said the RPD’s primary focus is to protect the community, especially children.

“We take all of these threats seriously, especially with schools,” Gibson said.

He noted that when the RPD officers respond to a threat report that turns out to be false, it causes other citizens in the community to wait for services because there are a limited amount of officers available to respond in other parts of the city.

Despite recent activity, Gibson said Redmond is a very fortunate city as they do not see much violence.

“Redmond is a very safe community,” he said.