Teen arrested with gun during confrontation after a Bellingham high school graduation

A 17-year-old boy was arrested Saturday with a loaded pistol after a Bellingham Public Schools graduation ceremony during a confrontation that included a threat to shoot the father of another boy, police said.

A Bellingham Police officer tackled the boy as he was reaching for a loaded 9mm semiautomatic pistol tucked in his waistband, Lt. Claudia Murphy told The Bellingham Herald in an email.

“Officers were able to recover a firearm from the 17-year-old’s pants, as it had slipped from its original position of the waistband down to his knee,” Murphy said.

No injuries were reported.

Neither the boy nor the victim were identified in the statement, but a Bellingham Public Schools spokeswoman said the 17-year-old was not an Options High student.

“We thank the Bellingham Police Department for their quick response and their incredible care for public safety,” school district spokeswoman Dana Smith told The Herald in an email.

“We are relieved that the ceremony itself was not affected, and that it reflected our students’ accomplishments and perseverance and our staff’s dedication to them,” Smith said.

Murphy said the boy was booked into juvenile detention on suspicion of felony harassment, unlawful possession of a firearm, possessing a weapon capable of producing bodily harm, obstructing a law enforcement officer and possessing a dangerous weapon on school facilities.

Police included a photo of the pistol, a Polymer 80, with a 16-round Glock magazine and 15 9mm cartridges.

Saturday’s incident happened about 8:20 p.m, at Civic Stadium, after the last of four Bellingham high school graduations held that day, according to an email from Murphy and an online police log.

It occurred in a crowded courtyard at the stadium in the Civic Athletic Complex on Lakeway Drive, Murphy said.

Two officers had been assigned to work at Civic Stadium during the graduation ceremonies for Bellingham, Sehome, Squalicum and Options high schools.

Options’ graduation was at 7 p.m, Saturday, according to the school’s website.

Both officers were alerted to a fight between a man and a teenager as graduates, students, friends and family were leaving the Options ceremony, Murphy said.

Officers saw a man and teenager yelling at each other and separated the pair to ask them about what was happening, Murphy said.

Murphy said the man told one officer that the boy had pulled a gun and threatened to shoot his son twice previously, and when they met as the graduation ceremony ended, the boy pulled his shirt up to show his pistol, telling the man that he intended to kill him on the spot.

Meanwhile, as the second officer was questioning the boy and asking to search him for a weapon, he resisted and tried to reach into his waistband, Murphy said.

Murphy said the officer grabbed the boy by the arm, called out to her partner, and she wrestled the boy to the ground as her partner arrived to help with the arrest.