The King County Sheriff's Office gave a press briefing Thursday afternoon, Sept. 20, to update the community on Internet threats of a mass shooting that resulted in the closure of Sammamish's Skyline High School.
The threat was made on the web forum 4chan.org late Wednesday evening, and numerous calls were reported by police and school officials shortly thereafter. The Issaquah School District announced early Thursday morning that classes would be canceled for the day due to the threat.
Sheriff Steve Strachan said Thursday that the threat resembled another earlier threat against a middle school in Lynnwood, even using some of the same language. The photo of a submachine gun accompanying the post appeared to be a stock photo, rather than a snapshot taken in a home, Strachan said.
Police tracked the IP address to a proxy server in Sweden, which indicates the sender took steps to conceal his or her identity in the post.
Skyline was closed Thursday, and other local schools modified their security measures and noted decreased attendance due to safety concerns. Eastside Catholic School, located near Skyline, has canceled Friday classes and rescheduled a football game originally set for Friday, Sept. 22, in order to review its safety measures throughout the school.
Strachan told Patch it's quite possible the threat is not credible (see attached video), but police take any such threat very seriously and are taking all possible precautions to keep students safe.
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