Swatting incident yesterday at Kamiak High School

Dear staff, students and families,

Yesterday, Dec. 4, just after 2 p.m., there was a swatting incident related to Kamiak High School which caused Kamiak and several nearby schools in our district to go into lockdown and caused a large response from Mukilteo Police Department in the area. Swatting is the act of deceiving an emergency service into sending law enforcement or emergency response teams to a location through false reporting of a serious emergency, such as an active shooter or bomb threat. In this case, it was reported to police that an armed person was on the Kamiak campus. Once the police arrived on campus, the school office received a similar phone call. While the threat was false, school staff and law enforcement take all threats seriously.

Since yesterday’s incident, we have learned that the call was traced to Sweden and that several other school districts in Washington state received similar swatting threats at about the same time.

Even though these kinds of threats are false, they can understandably cause confusion and concern. Schools are offering support to students who may be feeling anxious and wanted to let everyone know the facts of yesterday’s incident.

Thanks for your understanding and for your help in sharing the facts and correcting any misinformation you might hear or read. We appreciate your partnership and that of local law enforcement as we work together to keep our community safe.