Kids with airsoft guns send nearby schools into lockdown, but pose no threat to campuses

Two youths with airsoft guns walking near schools in the Geiger Heights neighborhood sent the schools into lockdown briefly Wednesday afternoon.

The youths presented no threat to the schools or public, said Cpl. Mark Gregory, spokesman for the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.

“There was no actual threat at any time, no actual danger, we just have to assume that there is and make sure everybody’s safe,” Gregory said.

The staff and students still lingering after school in Windsor Elementary School and Westwood Middle School went into lockdown for around 40 minutes while law enforcement searched the area for the “suspicious individuals,” according to alerts from Cheney Public Schools.

Officers responded to a report of two kids with what “appeared to be weapons” near the school to find the two youths walking around after playing with the airsoft guns.

Officers from several law enforcement agencies responded, including the sheriff’s office and the Spokane, Airway Heights, Cheney, and Kalispel Tribal police departments.

Gregory said the report was a fitting example of “If you see it, say it.”

“The report of it is exactly what we want to happen,” he said.