The mother of a 15-year-old who was shot and killed in a Seattle high school in 2022 is suing the school district, accusing it of failing to follow appropriate security measures.
According to the complaint, Seattle Public School officials were well aware of the then-14-year-old suspect long before he brought a gun onto campus on November 8, 2022. Just four weeks earlier, the teen had been caught with a knife and a facsimile handgun after several students told school officials that he had threatened them. The mother of Ebenezer Haile, who was shot and killed by the teen, says the school dropped the ball and didn't even abide by school district policy when dealing with the student.
The morning of Oct. 3, 2022, a student reported to school security that the boy had threatened her with what she thought was a gun inside an all-gender bathroom. Someone called 911 about three hours later to report the boy for threatening other students with a knife and a BB gun inside the school, the complaint states.
School employees found the boy and brought him into an office where Ingraham Principal Martin Floe and Assistant Principal Zack Elvig searched his backpack, finding a fixed-blade knife and a black BB gun designed to look like a handgun.
A school principal or their designee must search a student’s possessions if there’s reason to believe the student has an illegally possessed firearm, under state law.
Under school district policy, students who bring weapons that appear to be firearms to school — also a violation of state law — can be suspended or expelled for up to one year and must undergo a threat assessment to determine what safety measures should be taken to keep others safe, the complaint states.
But Haile’s family said in their lawsuit that school officials suspended the boy for fewer than three days and never conducted a threat assessment, allowing the boy to return to school with “no apparent safety plan” in place.
Tsedale Woldemariam's lawsuit against the school district further alleges that on the morning of November 8th officials at Ingraham High School were once again informed that the teen was causing alarm among students.
At about 9:15 a.m. on Nov. 8, 2022, a student who was closely associated with the shooter reported to a teacher that he was worried “something was going to happen.” About a half-hour later, a person reported the shooter was acting aggressively to school security. Neither the teacher nor security personnel — who remained in their office instead of searching for the boy — acted on the reports, the complaint alleges.
Surveillance camera video recorded inside the school that morning shows the boy pulling a gun from his backpack and shooting Haile multiple times in the back, then pointing the gun at other nearby students and firing until the gun is emptied, the complaint states.
The school district hasn't had time to respond to Woldemariam's complaint in court, but in a statement to the Seattle Times a spokesperson suggested that the "widespread access to firearms and disregard by some to the tragic harm they can cause” led to Haile's murder.
The killer was just 14 years old when the murder took place, so he didn't get ahold of a gun legally. Washington State also has a plethora of gun controls already in place, including bans on so-called assault weapons and "large capacity" magazines, "universal" background checks, and a "red flag" law; none of which prevented the teen from illegally accessing a gun and carrying it onto campus.
To be sure, we're only getting one side of the story in Woldemariam's lawsuit, but if her allegations are true then the district could and should have taken some basic steps to deal with the teen before he murdered a classmate in a high school bathroom. Just a little more than a month before the shooting the district released an update to its Safe and Welcoming Schools policy declaring "Threats of school violence should be reported right away to school staff, through the Safe Schools Hotline, or the new mobile app." What about when a student informs a teacher directly, or when school security is alerted to a potential threat? Do students really have to pick up their phone and use an app or call a hotline in order for the district to respond to a report of a threat to public safety?
I'm curious to see what the school district has to say when it officially responds to the lawsuit, especially since violence on campuses has continued. In June, a 17-year-old was shot and killed as he tried to break up a fight in the Garfield High School parking lot during lunch hour, and police have not yet made an arrest. Haile's killer, meanwhile, was sent to a juvenile facility until he turns 21 after pleading guilty to first-degree murder, unlawful possession of a weapon, and other charges.
Six years for a cold-blooded killing is an entirely different issue created by Washington's criminal justice "reforms", but the safety of Seattle schools is rightfully being called into question by parents like Woldemariam and other who worry that officials are turning a blind eye to serious threats of violence on campus.
