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16-year-old girl assaulted near Mount Si High School; Police still searching for suspect

SNOQUALMIE, Wash. — A 16-year-old girl in Snoqualmie was assaulted Friday afternoon, near Mount Si High School. The assault prompted a school lockdown, and police are still looking for the suspect.

Police said they used a K-9 to search for an adult Asian male suspect in his 30s, wearing a gray T-shirt and black pants at the time.

Police said they contacted Mount Si High School staff and asked the school to implement a “shelter in place” response for after-school activities to keep students safe while they investigated the area.

“The victim was a student of the school and had been at a school sports practice, she was walking down a sidewalk near the school when this happened,” said Joan Pliego, a public information officer for the Snoqualmie Police Department.

She said the girl got away, made her way back to the school – just two blocks away – and told her coach, who immediately called 911.

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“She’s not injured, a little shaken up,” Pliego said.

The police department isn’t releasing details of the assault at this time to protect the young woman’s privacy.

It’s something that has people in Snoqualmie concerned.

“When you know this 30-something year old guy is out there… that’s creepy, I need to lock my door more. It’s a hard thing to think about because it is a smaller community,” said Kennedy Stinson, who lives close to the high school.

Students at the high school said the lockdown had them worried as well.

“Everyone was just freaking out about it,” said Logan Milks, a senior at Mount Si.

Snoqualmie Police said the victim is working with a sketch artist to produce a picture of the suspect, and will release that once it’s available. They’ve also notified area police departments.

“The police department is concerned with the young women in this area and they do offer self-defense classes regularly, for even the Mount Si High School girls,” Pliego said.

Students at Mount Si High School had early dismissal, and were released at 12:30 p.m. before the assault. The “shelter in place” response was for students still on campus for after-school activities.  The lockdown was lifted about 45 minutes after it started.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call 911.

KIRO 7 will continue to update this story as more information comes available.