Seattle students arrested for trying to rob classmate at gunpoint

Four Ingraham High School students have been arrested and are accused of trying to rob another student at gunpoint on school grounds Friday morning.

The victim, identified only as a male student, was walking to class around 10 a.m. when a red Honda Civic pulled up alongside him near the Helene Madison Pool on campus.

The Seattle Police Department (SPD) say four teenage boys got out of the car. One pointed a gun at the victim, demanding his shoes and Air Pod earbuds.

The student was able to sprint away. He then called 911 from a nearby home.

Police briefly locked down Ingraham High School as they searched for the suspects. They located the Honda parked outside the school’s main entrance, with all four suspects still inside. They were arrested without incident and booked on suspected robbery charges at the Judge Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center in Seattle’s Central District.

SPD says officers were not able to find the gun allegedly used during the incident. Officers did not respond when asked if the car was stolen.

KIRO Newsradio observed school security staffers at Friday’s scene following the arrest of the suspects.

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Safety concerns at Ingraham

Friday’s incident is the latest in a series that has raised concerns about safety at Ingraham. In November 2022, 17-year-old Ebenezer Haile was shot and killed by another student in a school hallway.

According to King County prosecutors, the alleged gunman in that case is 14, while his accused accomplice is 15. The deadly altercation generated outcry from students and prompted Seattle School District Superintendent Brent Jones, Ph.D, to implement a new safety plan. It included the creation of an action team of school, police, city and community leaders to assess how safety can be improved at schools and surrounding neighborhoods. But the trauma lingered for both students and staff. The district reported a significant decline in attendance compared to the year before. Pre-shooting attendance for 12th graders during the 2022-2023 school was at 88% and post-shooting, it dropped to 77%.

The district also reported a spike in disciplinary incidents: jumping from 29 to 67 between the 2021-22 and 2022-23 school years.

“Review of the data suggests Ingraham students and staff are hurting” the report concluded.

Two months after the promised security changes, in April 2023 a Nathan Hale High student was caught holding a gun in Ingraham’s parking lot after video was posted on social media. Seattle Public Schools said the student was at Ingraham attending a morning skills center program. Police quickly responded and were able to recover the gun without problems.

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Trauma recovery efforts underway That August, Ingraham received nearly $500,000 in federal funding to help with recovery efforts for students — including increased security and mental health resources.

“We’re not immune to what happens in our communities, we’re not immune to the proliferation of gun violence however we do what we can within our school systems, within our school buildings to make them safer,” Jones said at the time.

The U.S. Department of Education grant provides access to mental health assessments, mental health experts and security specialists, among other resources.

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