Father & Child Arrested After Social Media Threats Made At Tonasket School

An Okanogan County juvenile and their father are in police custody after police say the child made a series of threats directed at students in Tonasket.

The Okanogan County Sheriff's Office says an investigation was launched at around 5:30 p.m. on Monday (May 25) after Tonasket School officials reported the discovery of numerous social media posts which contained threatening messages directed at the school and its students.

Sheriff's officials described the posts as "disturbing" in nature, and detailed that they made references to a prior school shooting which raised immediate concerns among the school's staff.

Police say shortly after the posts were made, several students at Tonasket School also began directly receiving threatening messages from the same social media account attached to the earlier posts.

Investigators say they quickly learned the identity of a student connected to the social media account, and after ensuring the safety and security of the school and its students, established the probable cause necessary to arrest both the student and their father at just after midnight on Tuesday (May 26).

The Sheriff's Office has not released the names of either the student or their father, but says the investigation is ongoing and more details will be released when they can be safely publicized.