Local

Deputies investigating attempted abduction of student in Fall City

FALL CITY, Wash. — Deputies in Fall City are investigating reports of an attempted abduction of an elementary school student.

The school district said a student had just gotten off the school bus on Redmond-Fall City Road Southeast at around 4 p.m. Wednesday. The student was walking up to their driveway when a man pulled up and tried to grab them.

The student was able to run home and tell a parent what happened.

Police are working with the school district to review video from the school bus in hope of identifying the suspect.

“It shatters you to your core. Hearing about that in your neighborhood,” says parent Angela Black.

Parents in the community say they’re concerned because of other incidents in the Snoqualmie Valley School District this school year.

In September, a Twin Falls Middle School student was waiting at the bus stop, when a man tried to lure the boy across the street.

A few weeks later, the district says a man chased Chief Kanim Middle School students at cross country practice. The district wrote, “They reported that a man came out from behind a bush and tried to grab a girl’s wrist and chased the group. Since the students were running, they got away.”

A mother of one of the cross country runners tells KIRO 7 that the incident prompted coaches to change their running routes to keep students on campus, unless there were enough volunteers to monitor a different running course.

In November, the school district reported a Chief Kanim Middle School student was walking to school when she was approached by a man in a minivan. He then proceeded to follow her and ask her questions. The district wrote, “The student called her brother on speakerphone and her brother told the man to leave or they would call the police. The man then drove away.”

Following each of these incidents, the King County Sheriff’s Department and local police increased patrols in the area while attempting to locate the individuals.

Speaking with KIRO 7 News, a spokesman for the district says they will continue to prioritize the safety of their students, and have worked with law enforcement throughout each investigation. Additionally, they’ve worked to keep parents informed.

Parents say they appreciate the district’s transparency and will remain vigilant.

“We’re a tight-knit group. We take all of those things very seriously, even if it didn’t happen directly to us, which means that we’ll be looking out for all neighborhood kids,” says Black.

“Everybody knows that when something like this happens. So we can all look out for each other,” says parent, Ashley McCann.