Eastside Student Faces Felony Charges Over School Threat

Kirkland WA

14 June, 2022

2:24 PM

Description

KIRKLAND, WA — A Juanita High School student faces a pair of felony charges after prosecutors allege he threatened to harm his classmates and sent them photos of rifles. The King County Prosecuting Attorney's office filed felony harassment charges Tuesday against Salomon Levin, 18, who Kirkland police arrested as a suspect in the case on Sunday. In probable cause documents, Kirkland detectives alleged Levin made direct threats to several classmates over Instagram, resulting in more than four dozen 911 calls from concerned students and parents. During interviews with detectives, students said Levin made direct references to the recent school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, where a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School. Investigators reviewed Levin's Instagram account and contacted his father, who agreed to bring the student in for an interview. Police said he confirmed the account and the posts in question belonged to him and told detectives he had a list of people he wanted to "get rid of." In charging documents, prosecutors wrote: "After the original post, the defendant made direct threats to a number of students, including, 'if you stay out of line you'll end up like those kids in Uvalde,' and, 'I'm suggesting I should kill you.' In these communications, the defendant indicated that his father had a gun and sent a photograph of a shotgun and rifle cases. In an interview with detectives, the defendant said that the purpose of the original Instagram post was to scare people, that he had a list of people he wanted to get rid of, that he wanted to harm people individually, and he mentioned having a gun in his fantasies." The case was initially referred to Kirkland Municipal Court as a misdemeanor, but will now be handled as a felony harassment case by the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office. Prosecutors on Tuesday asked that bail be set at $200,000, and Levin is due back for an arraignment hearing on both counts on June 27. As an added precaution, Kirkland police said extra patrols would be deployed to school campuses throughout the week.