Tri-Cities high school student arrested for making pipe bomb. Another student reported him

KENNEWICK – A Tri-Cities high school student has been arrested for possession of an explosive device.

Kennewick police said the 17-year-old Southridge High School student was arrested Wednesday after another student reported they were concerned the boy had an explosive.

Kennewick School District’s resource officer and Southridge staff worked with Kennewick police to investigate, and spoke to the student, according to a news release from Kennewick Police.

During the investigation it became clear there was no threat to the campus or any other schools in the area, and the student did not have the explosive device with him at school.

Investigators obtained a search warrant for a home in the 1400 block of South Harrison Street and found the device.

Kennewick Police Commander Isaac Merkl confirmed the device was a pipe bomb.

Richland Police Bomb Squad technicians disarmed the device, and the student was booked into the Benton Franklin Juvenile Detention Center on suspicion of possession of an explosive device and manufacture of an incendiary device.

“This is a great example of, ‘If you see something, say something.’ We appreciate the courage it took for the student to come forward and report this,” Merkl said in the news release.