Washington Teacher Arrested After Allegedly Threatening to Shoot Students

washington teacher arrested after alledgely threatening students

A teacher in Washington was placed under arrest on Wednesday after she allegedly threatened to shoot students, the Piece County Sheriff's Department said.

Police say Julie Hillend-Jones was on the phone with a caseworker when she allegedly made the threat. The caseworker then notified police around 6 p.m. about the threat.

Hillend-Jones is a teacher at Emerald Ridge High School in South Hill, Washington, the sheriff's department said.

"The suspect was identified as a 58 year old female teacher at Emerald Ridge High Schoolin South Hill. Deputies immediately notified the school administration, who placed the teacher on leave pending further investigation," the Pierce County Sheriff's Department said in a statement.

The teacher, who has not yet been identified by police, was booked on a charge of threats to injure.

"Everybody knows you don’t talk about guns or make any threats in school," Pierce County sheriff’s Detective Ed Troyer Troyer told KING. "If the student does it, they’re going to jail. Now we have a teacher doing it. They're also going to jail, so she’s going to be booked in jail as we look into this a little bit further."

Troyer said when officials were conducting their investigation, the teacher "didn't back off from those comments."

"She had some anger involved with it when she said it, from what we understand, and they took it seriously and called the school district," he said.

No weapons were recovered during the arrest.

It's unknown what prompted the threat by the Hillend-Jones.

The Puyallup School District where the teacher works issued a statement in response to the teacher's arrest:

The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department is conducting an investigation of an Emerald Ridge High School staff member who made threats against students during a conversation off campus on Tuesday.
The normal protocol for threats was followed including immediate notification of law enforcement. The staff member was not at school today and has been placed on administrative leave. Making threats against the safety of students and staff is a felony crime and taken very seriously by Puyallup School District.


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