Seniors Jared Lee, Javier Corona and Andrew Waddell sit across the street from their school watching and waiting as fellow students are inside getting interviewed by deputies.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CENTRALIA – Law enforcement officers don’t know if a threat a student was going to kill people at Centralia High School’s homecoming assembly this afternoon was genuine and was thwarted, or if it was something else.
A note found on a teacher’s desk this morning stated as such and prompted a lockdown that lasted all day.
Hundreds of family members descended upon the church and its parking lot across the street waiting for their children to be released.
More than two dozen deputies, police and troopers from the area responded to the 800 block of Eshom Road, after the school resource officer was informed of the message at approximately 10 a.m.
The investigation continued all day, and the last students were let go at about 4 p.m.
“We were interviewing kids, searching kids – with a wand,” Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Stacy Brown said. “Escorting them to the bathroom and giving them snacks and water.”
No weapons were found, however, there are still backpacks left at the school that have yet to be searched, according to Brown.
Without going into details, Brown said a person wrote the note, telling of what another person planned to do. Deputies don’t know who left the note, or who the other person is, she said at the end of the day.
Centralia High School sits outside the city limits and is in the sheriff’s office jurisdiction.
Centralia School District spokesperson Ed Petersen said it threatened a specific action at a specific time and place, prompting an intentionally slow and meticulous process.
The homecoming assembly didn’t take place. The homecoming football game scheduled for tonight at Tiger Stadium has been postponed, as has tomorrow’s homecoming dance.
The school district notified the public and the news media at about 11 a.m., but information was already circulating on social media.
Parents were informed they could wait at the Centralia Community Church of God at the corner of Borst Avenue and Eshom Road across from the school’s main entrance.
James Guyer was among those who rushed over, and then waited for hours. His 16-year-old daughter was keeping him somewhat informed, texting periodically and lamenting her classroom was at the back of the school and would be the last to be let out.
“She also sent me a text saying they are patting down each student,” Guyer said.
Guyer chatted with another father, Corey Williams, who sat in the back of his pickup truck with his teenage son.
A large crowd was lined up in the church lobby, signing in with school staff, so they could subsequently be matched up with their youngsters.
“We were already in there about an hour,” Williams said.
He and his 17-year-old, Eli Williams, were waiting for Eli’s 16-year-old brother to come out.
They were told the busses would be bringing students over in groups of 20, but the first one dropped off only five or six kids, he said.
Eli Williams, a senior, said he’d been up in Tumwater at his construction trades class, when the lockdown happened and then he learned about the threat.
“I don’t really know anyone that would do that,” he said. “But a lot of things happen; someone seems really nice and goes crazy.”
Some adults stayed in their cars in the lot, several of which were parked cattywampus suggesting their minds were on more pressing matters than taking up two parking spots.
The mother of one freshman boy was contemplative as she sat with her 6-year-old and their dog.
“They were saying on the news last night, national news, that things get stirred up, like copycats,” Lori Raab said.
Raab, a radio news director, had spent yesterday coordinating coverage of the unfolding tragedy at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon, in which at least nine people were fatally shot.
Sitting on a curb, directly across from the fenced off school, were three seniors who had also been elsewhere before the campus was shut down.
Javier Corona, 17, had been at the football stadium just a few blocks to the east, doing a run through for the halftime event with his leadership class. Corona is a finalist for homecoming king.
He said he watched the police cars arriving, the first ones just driving up and the rest with lights flashing.
Jared Lee, also 17, and another student had been out shopping with his mother, a school district employee.
“We were getting scepters and flowers, and I think crowns for the king and queen,” Lee said.
Andrew Waddell, 18, said he walked into work and was told what was happening. HIs first thought was a bomb threat, he said.
“But I thought, that doesn’t make sense,” Waddell said.
Centralia School District Superintendent, Mark Davalos and Centralia High School Principal Josue Lowe periodically gave briefings, reassuring those present that everything going on was to ensure the safety of students.
At one point, a student had messaged someone a fuzzy picture rumored to be a shooter inside the building, but law enforcement figured out it actually was a snapshot of a security monitor showing one of the law enforcement officers with a rifle.
“The only weapons that have been found on Centralia High School campus today are in the hands of law enforcement officers,” Lowe told the crowd.
District spokesperson Petersen said the high school has about 1,000 students. He wasn’t certain late this afternoon exactly how many were in classes today.
Neither he nor Chief Deputy Brown knew for sure why a Washington State Patrol bomb squad truck was on the scene. Petersen said he thought it might be part of protocol.
The state patrol did bring dogs into the school to sniff around.
They weren’t searching for bombs, they were searching for something else, Petersen said. “There was absolutely no concern for bombs or explosive devices.”
Chief Deputy Brown said although the school was cleared by about 4 p.m., she suspected the investigation would continue.
School staff would be going through the backpacks and items students left behind, she said. And there are lots of interviews to go through.
“It was a very methodical process, but it was absolutely what we needed to do to ensure their safety,” Brown said. “In light of everything that’s going on across the nation, it was imperative to handle it as we did.”
Peterson echoed her sentiments.
“Yes, it took a long time to get everyone out,” he said. “But everyone went home safe, and that’s the best we can hope for.”
To read ongoing posts and comments from the community about today’s events, go to Lewis County Sirens on Facebook.
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Corey Williams and his son Eli Williams decided they preferred to wait outside today.
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Principal Josue Lowe offers an update on Eshom Road in between the high school and the church.
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