By CASEY MCNERTHNEY
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
FEDERAL WAY, WA - A 15-year-old son of a state trooper was arrested Thursday night on suspicion of stealing handguns from his father’s safe, and two other high school students were arrested Thursday in relation to the crime.
The incident was initially believed to be a burglary, but three boys arrested for theft staged it, Pierce County sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said.
One of the boys was the Todd Beamer High School sophomore who took three of the guns to school Thursday afternoon, causing a lockdown at the Federal Way school of about 1,600 students. He was arrested at school.
After the principal found him with the loaded handguns, another Beamer sophomore confessed to his parents that he was involved with the burglary, Flores said.
The 16-year-old led Federal Way officers to an apartment trash bin in the 100 block of Southwest Campus Drive, where the other guns were found about 6 p.m. A seventh handgun that initially was reported missing was found at the state trooper’s home near Puyallup, Flores said.
Information from the 16-year-old helped police identify the trooper’s son, who was arrested Thursday at 11 p.m., Troyer said.
The trooper’s son attended Walker High School in Puyallup, according to police, and was an acquaintance of the Beamer students.
“They’re not all being very cooperative,” said Troyer, adding that the boys might face weapons possession charges.
Alexa Hudgens, a junior at Beamer, said she was walking to her second-period class when the she saw one of the Beamer sophomores with three guns in his backpack.
“He said, ‘Don’t snitch on me,’ ” said Hudgens, 17. “Then he started showing all his friends.”
Hudgens said she was next to the boy when principal Joshua Garcia and school security officer Mike Chi approached, having been alerted by a parent.
“He didn’t say why he did it,” Hudgens said. “I think he was just trying to be cool.”
Copyright 2007 Seattle Post-Intelligencer