Mercer Island High Schooler Faces Charges After Reported Threats to Students and School

A Mercer Island High School student faces juvenile charges related to Harassment and Threats after the Mercer Island School District reported that he made threats to harm fellow Mercer Island High School students and the school, according to the Mercer Island Police Department.

The student was arrested at the high school on Wednesday after school and booked into the King County Juvenile Detention Center, according to the Police Department.

The school district reported to police that the 15-year-old told another student that he would harm other students and the school, according to Mercer Island Police spokeswoman Cmdr. Leslie Burns.

The threat was general in nature, and not directed toward any particular student or individual, she said.

The school district exercised extraordinary caution and placed the student on emergency removal pending a police investigation of the incident, Burns said.

Mercer Island Police Officers and Detectives responded to the school and contacted the student. The incident took place after school on an early release day, and the police were called around 3 p.m., Burns said. Since it occurred after school, there was no need for a lockdown or evacuation, she said.

Burns said that the incident is unusual on the Mercer Island.

"We haven’t responded recently to a threat of this nature," she said. "The school takes the safety of students very seriously."

Police investigation revealed the student did not have access to weapons as threatened and did not represent an immediate harm to students or school faculty members, according to Burns.

However, parents were notified of the incident earlier Wednesday, Burns said.