Two juvenile suspects were arrested by Bellevue Police early Tuesday morning after making threats over the weekend to shoot and kill three juvenile girls at their respective high schools in Bellevue.
At approximately 10:30pm Monday evening, the Bellevue Police Department responded to a call by three female juveniles who shared they received repeated death threats by two suspects – a female juvenile and a male juvenile.
According to the victims, both suspects made threats on social media that they would find the victims at their respective schools – Newport High School, Sammamish High School, and Bellevue High School – and shoot them on Tuesday. The victims told BPD Officers the male suspect waved what appeared to be a firearm and displayed ammunition loaded in a magazine on video. As the threats escalated on social media over the course of the weekend, they realized the threat of a firearm being used against them was credible and imminent.
Officers developed probable cause to arrest both juvenile suspects. After searching the female suspect’s residence in Bellevue, Officers – with assistance from the Issaquah Police Department – performed a check at the male suspect’s residence in Issaquah. The parents of the male suspect told police that both suspects were inside, however refused to grant officers access.
At approximately 1:35am Tuesday morning and while police were in the process of obtaining a warrant to search the residence, the female suspect attempted to flee the location through the back door of the residence. Officers arrested the female suspect as well as the male suspect shortly after without incident. Bellevue Police served a search warrant on the home and successfully recovered multiple firearms and ammunition inside.
This is still an open and active investigation and Bellevue Police have no information to suggest that the threats were random or that there is any other ongoing threat to the community related to this particular matter.
“All of us – young people, parents, and everyone in the community – need to take threats of violence seriously, but especially threats of gun violence – whether it’s in person or online,” said Shelby Shearer, Captain of the Bellevue Police Department. “Fortunately, with timely and critical help from the community, the Bellevue PD was able to interrupt this escalation of threats, get the two people making them into custody, and get their firearms away from them before we had a tragedy in our community.”
Victims involved in the incident this weekend provided a textbook example on how to handle online harassment. The Bellevue Police Department provided the following tips to residents and the media on May 14 after an incident online led to violence offline in Factoria.
The following steps below can deescalate online harassment and prevent real-life violence in the process:
Bellevue Beat Blog 