2 Shoreline schools closed Friday due to safety concerns

SHORELINE, Wash. — Two schools in the Shoreline School District (SSD) will be closed on Friday due to safety concerns.

The district canceled classes at Kellogg Middle School and Shorecrest High School sending parents an email after 10:30 Thursday night, which said the district said it “received reports of concerns for safety” at the two schools.

“My friends started texting me, and I was just confused. I thought it was just a rumor so then I showed my parents,” said Ollie Chin, a 7th grader at Kellogg Middle School.

Several parents called police to report what their students were telling them.

“They were like, guys don’t go to school tomorrow. Apparently, a guy's gonna bring a gun to shoot up the school,” said Chin.

“I think it’s a rumor. I don’t think it’s gonna be an issue. That it’s (school) gonna get shot up,” said Waker Anderson, a 7th grader at Kellogg Middle School.

When multiple reports of threats of harm with a potential gun reached the Shoreline School District, they canceled classes at both Kellog Middle School and Shorecrest High School to investigate.

“I thought it was gonna be a rumor, but like, if I did go to school and it wasn’t a rumor then..?” said Chin.

A group of Kellogg students told KOMO News, with permission from their parents, that news of the threat spread through text messages and social media Thursday night.

“Someone’s gonna bring a gun to school, and he was going to shoot up the school. Second I heard it, I was really scared, and I thought was fake at first, but then I saw it on a lot of people's stories,” said Jackson Schulz, another Kellogg 7th grader.

KOMO News reached out to Sgt. Eric White with the King County Sheriff's Office, which is contracted to provide police in Shoreline told KOMO that their initial investigation found no credible threats but that Shoreline police are continuing to look into it.

“Students and staff should not report to either school; however, the administration will be out front in the morning to help direct students and families who may arrive at either campus,” a message on the SSD website says.

“I think there’s like a bully or something like that,” said Schultz.

The district says that no student will be permitted back on campus if there are any safety concerns associated with that student.

A staff member at Shorecrest High School told KOMO News he is concerned but also frustrated, as many other staff members are, that the district’s not finding the funding needed to provide security at all middle and high schools.

KOMO News has been covering these concerns about security since the last school year and asked Shoreline School District for an interview but was only referred to the update they posted online Friday afternoon.

It further explained the canceled class situation and the next steps, which include both the police investigation and discipline process in the district.

The district said its anonymous safety tip line was the “best avenue to quickly, easily, and anonymously report safety concerns.”