Threats Against Eastmont Schools Under Investigation

Police and school resource officers in the Eastmont School District are on standby in connection with threats made against junior high students and staff last Friday.

Associate Superintendent Matt Charlton says the threats came in the form of emails to staff and an online learning and collaboration tool called Google Classrooms.

"Upon getting that threat, we did contact law enforcement. The threats were in the nature of saying they would be coming to school and harming students and staff," Charlton said. "They never mentioned any staff member by name, so law enforcement looked at that and started their investigation."

Charlton says police don't think the threats are credible but erred on the side of caution with a police presence before, during and after class on school campuses.

Investigators have narrowed the origin of the threats to a compromised student account. Charlton says the student is cooperating with the investigation.

"I think it is certainly plausible that it could be someone from in the state or out of the country. But we haven't yet ruled out that it could be a member of this community or even another student. So that part is under investigation." Charlton said.

When police decide a heightened presence is no longer necessary on school grounds, students and staff can still turn to a pair of school resource officers for assistance and information.

"Both of them will be in the school and highly visible interacting with students. And if other support is needed, they're in constant communication with their department.," Charlton said. "If anyone has any information that they feel pertinent to the investigations, either contact the East Wenatchee Police Department or they can contact one of those two schools, Eastmont Junior high school or Sterling Junior High School."