3 in custody after break-in initially feared to be Enumclaw High School shooting threat
Jun 3, 2025, 12:05 PM | Updated: 3:05 pm
Photos of three armed and masked juveniles breaking into Enumclaw High School. (Photo courtesy of Enumclaw School District)
(Photo courtesy of Enumclaw School District)
Three people accused of breaking into Enumclaw High School over the weekend, wearing a mask and carrying what looked like a gun, told investigators they were planning a prank.
“It sounds like potentially releasing a lot of balloons in some sort of cafeteria or auditorium area. So nothing malicious,” said Sarah Taylor, Public Information Officer with the Enumclaw Police Department (EPD).
“There was no plan for harming of others,” added Enumclaw School District spokesperson Jessica McCartney. “The weapon involved was actually an airsoft replica.”
Police initially suspect potential recon for school shooting
But surveillance video of the trio sparked concerns that they might be doing reconnaissance for a shooting. They walked slowly, recording their movements, only running off when an alarm brought police.
Officers wasted no time circulating photos of the group.
“They saw everything going on, they knew that they were involved, and they came forward,” said Taylor.
Two of the suspects are students from the school.
One of them, who’s 18, went to a police station where he was taken into custody and booked into jail. The other student, who is younger, contacted the school resource officer and was taken to juvenile detention.
Both face possible trespassing and burglary charges. One of the three was from out of state, is back home, and is unlikely to face charges.
“Hopefully, everyone learned some lessons here,” Taylor said.
Enumclaw High School increases security
Security at the school has been increased out of an abundance of caution, EPD and the school district stated via Tuesday.
“We will maintain an extra police presence at the school today and tomorrow,” the news release stated. “It has been determined there is no threat at this time, but we will continue to provide more information as we continue our investigation.”
This story was originally published on June 2, 2025. It has been updated and republished since then.
Contributing: Julia Dallas, MyNorthwest
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