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High school teacher arrested for threatening to shoot students, deputies say
Image source: KIRO-TV video screenshot

High school teacher arrested for threatening to shoot students, deputies say

When confronted by law enforcement, the teacher allegedly refused to back down from her initial threats.

A high school geometry teacher in Washington state has been arrested and booked on several charges, after allegedly threatening to shoot students at Emerald Ridge High School in Puyallup.

What are the details?

The Pierce County Sheriff's Office said Julie Hillend-Jones, 58, was arrested at her home Wednesday morning, when law enforcement questioned her about alleged threats she made the night before while speaking to another adult.

PCSD Detective Ed Troyer told KING-TV that Hillend-Jones "didn't back off" from the threats she made when investigators pressed her on the claims.

"Everybody knows you don't talk about guns or make any threats in school," Troyer said. "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 been booked into the Pierce County Jail."

Hillend-Jones was immediately placed on administrative leave Tuesday evening, after her alleged threats were reported to school officials. Now, she faces at least one felony charge of threatening to bomb or injure property.

The New York Daily News reported that according to Hillend-Jones's LinkedIn profile, she has worked in the Puyallup School District for 20 years.

Anything else?

While the Emerald Ridge High School principal sent out a letter notifying families of the teacher's arrest on Wednesday, some parents expressed frustration at not being told of the situation sooner.

"I am upset," Kristen Griffin told KIRO-TV. "I have a son who's a junior at Emerald Ridge High School, saw on my news feed that there had been a threat — a mass shooting threat — made against my son's school by a teacher, and it's radio silence from the school district. That is not okay."

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