BETHEL SCHOOL DISTRICT — At approximately 2:30 p.m. today (December 5, 2017), 30 minutes after school was dismissed, there was a shooting near the Graham-Kapowsin High School campus.  The shooting stemmed from an altercation between a group of individuals outside of the school.  Two students who were injured in the shooting made their way onto the Graham-Kapowsin campus for help. 

 Graham-Kapowsin High School, Frontier Middle School, Graham Elementary School, and Nelson Elementary School were immediately placed in lockdown while Pierce County Deputies searched for the shooters.  As a precaution and a part of the investigation, deputies searched the entire campus as well as inside Graham-Kapowsin High School.  

 At 3 p.m., Graham Elementary was taken off of lockdown and students were released according to normal end-of-the-day dismissal procedures.  The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department directed the district to remain in lockdown at Graham-Kapowsin High School, Frontier Middle School, and Nelson Elementary until they were able to secure the area.  Once the area was secured, and schools were taken out of lockdown by the sheriff’s department, parents were allowed access to the three schools to pick up their students and buses were dispatched to take remaining students home.

School at all three sites will follow a normal schedule tomorrow, Wednesday, December 6.  Please remember that tomorrow is a scheduled late start in the district.  

Graham-Kapowsin High School will have extra security on hand tomorrow, as well as additional counselors. Students who left bags in classrooms will be allowed to collect them at the beginning of first period.

We wish to thank the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department for their quick response and continued investigation of this very serious incident, and to parents for their patience. Our primary concern is always for the safety of our students and staff.