Three Rivers teen student arrested in false shooting threat
A 14-year-old Three Rivers School student was arrested Monday afternoon on charges he made up a report of hearing another student threaten a shooting at the Sunriver school, in a ” copycat ” incident after one that led to an arrest hours earlier in Bend, officials said.
Around 2:30 p.m., a school resource deputy with the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office was notified that the 14-year-old had told school officials he’d heard another student earlier in the day make a comment threatening violence at the school involving use of a firearm, Sgt. William Bailey said.
The deputy quickly began to investigate the threat and its origin, Bailey said. The investigation determined the student had made up the story and “found no evidence of a credible threat to the safety of students and staff” at the K-8 school, the sergeant added.
The 14-year-old was arrested by citation on one count each of first-degree disorderly conduct and initiating a false report, then released to his parents, Bailey said.
The arrest came hours after a 12-year-old Bend boy was arrested on charges he’d made a threat of a shooting at Cascade Middle School.
Bailey told NewsChannel 21 the teen didn’t identify who supposedly made the threat, claiming he’d overheard a conversation that investigators determined “never happened.”
“An investigation revealed that in reality, he and another student had talked about the Cascade Middle School threat, which led this 14-year-old to fabricate the threat to school administration,” Bailey said.
“The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office takes any threat to the safety of our schools very seriously,” Bailey said in a news release. ” Any threat to the safety of our schools will not be tolerated and will be investigated completely in partnership with school officials.
“This is also a good time to remind our community that all firearms in the home should be locked up and/or secured in a manner that keeps them out of the hands of those who should not have them,” the sergeant added.
Three Rivers School principal Tim Broadbent sent this letter home to parents:
” Otter Families,
” I am writing to let you know that near the end of the school day , we received reports of a middle school student telling others that they should stay home tomorrow, for fear of a school shooting. Our administrators and School Resource Deputy ( SRD ) quickly identified and interviewed the student in question. According to our SRD , the student admitted fabricating the story for attention and as a copycat of the Cascade Middle School threat gaining momentum on social and traditional media.
” The youth was cited by Deschutes County Sheriff’s Deputies this afternoon for Disorderly Conduct 1 and Initiating a False Report.
” As you know, this type of behavior is not indicative of Three Rivers School’s culture or students. Our school continues to be safe for all students and staff.
” We, and our law enforcement partners, take all threats to our staff and students’ safety seriously. The safety of our students and staff is paramount and any and all threats, credible or not, are taken as such. I want to drive home to our students and families that we will not tolerate threats or copycats of threats to our school safety and support prosecution to the fullest extent of the law for the disruption that this will likely cause to our learning environment.
” That said, I always encourage our students and parents to contact the main office, share tips through Safe Oregon, or call 9-1-1 at any time to share information about threats to their safety or the safety of their school. We believe that by working together with our staff, students and parents, we can expedite the investigation and help control rumors about the situation.
” Thank you for your continued support of Three Rivers students and staff.
” Tim Broadbent
Principal – Three Rivers K-8 School
541.355.3000 ”
