SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. — Two 13-year-old boys were charged with possession of a dangerous weapon on Thursday after bringing an airsoft pistol to a Spokane Valley elementary school, police said.
Spokane Valley deputies responded to the report of a juvenile with a gun outside of University Elementary. The caller said surveillance video captured a student outside of the school with a handgun, looking through the windows of the school, according to police. School was not in session, but parents and teachers were inside the school for conferences.
Police said deputies searched the area and did not find the suspect.
One deputy looked at the surveillance footage and saw two teens with what appeared to be a firearm, police said. In the video, the teens passed the gun back and forth. One pulled his hoodie over his head, cinched it down and began looking in the window of a classroom. The boy then took the gun out of his pocket, pulled the slide back as if he was loading it and tapped on the classroom window with the pistol. Afterward, both males quickly hid on the ground beneath the window.
The boys did the same thing again a short time later, police said.
Police said a teacher recognized one of teens from the video and gave officers his name. The deputy then contacted the teen at his home and he was wearing the same clothing as seen in the surveillance video, police said.
Police said the boy admitted to being at the school with a friend and said they had an airsoft gun. The teen said he wanted to annoy teachers during their conferences. He said he also knew about signs throughout the school that said firearms and weapons were not allowed at the school due to school shootings.
The teen also said his friend tapped on the window with the handgun and pulled his hood over his head so he would not be seen on surveillance video, police said. He also admitted to encouraging his friend to continue tapping on the classroom window.
When officers told the teen he was under arrest for possession of a dangerous weapon on school facilities – a gross misdemeanor – he became upset and immediately said he did not care and would be released tomorrow anyway.
When a deputy asked the teen if he wanted to end up in prison, he said he would not be caught next time. He also said “all cops were stupid and he was smarter than them,” according to police.
The teen was transported and booked into the Spokane County Juvenile Detention Facility.
A deputy also went to the second teen’s residence, who confessed to having the airsoft gun at school with his friend. He said they were tapping on windows with the airsoft gun because “they thought it was funny,” according to police.
The teen said the pistol was “very realistic looking” and was in his room on his bed. His mother retrieved the airsoft gun.
Police said the second teen was also arrested for possession of a dangerous weapon on school facilities and booked into the Spokane County Juvenile Detention Center.