Why weren’t Kamiakin parents told more about a plot to attack the school?

Police told the Kennewick School District not to immediately release certain details of a 14-year-old student’s alleged threats to attack Kamiakin High School because they were still investigating.

But some in the community say they should have been told more about the teen’s extensive plan for a “massacre” at the school.

A note went out to families the day after the student was arrested, on Sept. 21, alerting parents to a “reported threat made online towards one of our schools,” but details were thin.

The 14-year-old Kamiakin freshman, Mason Bently-Ray Ashby, was arrested Sept. 20 and faces attempted first-degree murder charges after investigators seized guns, a colored-coded map of school targets and a manifesto.

In the start of the manifesto, Ashby allegedly wrote of a “massacre” and plans to possibly record the attack, and, in videos recovered from his iPhone, he talked about certain targets.

A second student, also 14, was later arrested for allegedly discarding a firearm that was later found by a police dog. Dylan Charles Carpenter was charged with illegal gun possession, tampering with evidence and giving a false statement to police.

Kennewick School District staff said in a statement to the Herald they were notified Sunday, Sept. 21, by Kennewick police about the student’s arrest. An online letter to families was sent out the same day. TikTok video leads to FBI tip

Kennewick police got involved late Friday evening after FBI agents reached out that they had received information from a social media user who reported a school violence threat, later linked to Kamiakin High.

The case started after a TikTok user in Florida told the FBI about seeing a short video of a school map.

Kennewick police, with the cooperation of TikTok and internet and wireless providers, were able to narrow their search for the TikTok account holder to the home where Ashby lived with his grandparents, according to court documents.

Police arrested Ashby on Saturday, Sept. 20, and then posted some details of the school threat the next day. That’s when the school district issued its five-sentence statement to parents and referred them to read the details posted by police.

It wasn’t until Tuesday, Sept. 23, that Carpenter was arrested after it was discovered that he had ditched a gun and ammunition near Dick’s Sporting Goods in Kennewick.

One community member who posted on Facebook said he felt police and the school chalked it up as a “minor thing” in their initial communications.

“The school owes the families of students and themselves so much more,” the person wrote. “Nothing about this is minor.”

Other parents were concerned they had read about the incident on social media first before learning from the district, while another said her family knew about it through the district’s parent portal.

The district told the Herald this week that it was advised by police that disclosing some of the details of the investigation “could jeopardize” the case.

“KPD shared the information they had at the time and informed the district that this was part of a pending police investigation,” the district told the Herald. “Based on the information available and in collaboration with KPD, it was determined that there was no threat to students or staff and that it was safe to continue normal school operations.”

“The district has fully cooperated with law enforcement throughout this process. In situations like this, we work closely with law enforcement, who provide us with information and guidance on what can be shared publicly,” the statement continued. Board president weighs in

School board President Gabe Galbraith’s post called the threats heartbreaking, and that one year away from school “isn’t enough when safety is on the line,” referring to the minimum mandatory punishment for having weapons on campus.

“I’ll be working with the board to push for stronger options — keeping those who make threats off campus for the rest of high school, moving them online, and having law enforcement involved if they ever need to come back,” he wrote in the Facebook post. “Our kids and staff deserve to feel safe at school, period,” Galbraith continued.

Police have touted the outcome as a “great example” of see-something, say-something.

“It was imperative that the citizen report the threat in light of keeping our schools safe and allowing law enforcement to investigate,” Kennewick police said in a Facebook post.