School officials say a Kennewick teen was bullied. He’s charged with a shooting threat

A Desert Hills Middle School student is expected back on campus this week after administrators determined there never was a threat of a school shooting.

The 13-year-old boy was the target of bullying, with other students picking on him during class in recent weeks, according to Principal Steve Jones.

In a letter to all Desert Hills families a week after the boy’s emergency expulsion and arrest, Jones said he wanted people to be aware that the boy has been cleared to return to school.

“The hope and expectation is that everyone will treat him with kindness as the student strives to put this incident behind him,” Jones wrote. The school did its own investigation separate from the police.

“We do not discuss individual student discipline actions, but please know that bullying is not tolerated at our school,” he added. “Desert Hills Middle School is committed to raising awareness about bullying, forming clear rules and strong social norms against bullying, and providing support and protection for all students.”

While school administrators say there was nothing credible to the rumors, prosecutors are moving forward with a criminal case against the teen.

The principal’s letter was emailed Wednesday about one hour after the boy appeared in Benton County Juvenile Court on a charge of felony harassment with threats to kill.

His trial is scheduled for Feb. 4.

Student was picked on

School officials and police were alerted late Dec. 2 about the possible threat, and the school resource officer was called in the next morning to look into it.

“Some of the verbal exchanges between the student and those who were picking on the student were passed on to other students,” Jones wrote in his letter Wednesday. “One of these students reported the third-hand information to his trusted adult, who called the police.”

The boy, questioned at home with his father present, denied the threats and said classmates had been making up rumors about him for a month.

Officers then spoke with three classmates, who shared that the teen became upset when one of them touched his water bottle and had written all of their names on a list, according to court documents. They described it as a “hit list” or “kill list.”

Asked by a classmate if he was going to shoot up the school, the teen allegedly replied, “You’ll never know. You’re going to have to find out.”

The boy then said it could happen in a day, a week or a month, documents said.

Another student reported the teen said he was going to come after him with an M16 and blow his head off with a sawed-off shotgun, court documents said.

He also said he was concerned because the boy wears trench coats and had been found with a bullet casing at school, which was confirmed by administrators, documents said.

A girl said she’s heard the teen talk in the past about a school shooting, documents said.

Police said the teen did not have access to weapons from his parents.

He was arrested Dec. 3 and emergency expelled from school.

He was released from the Benton-Franklin Juvenile Detention Center after posting $500 cash bail, and ordered to stay off the middle school campus until officials made a decision about his status.