Two conflicting stories: what really happened at Sand Point Elementary?

SEATTLE — Conflicting stories are circulating after a man hopped a fence and broke into a Seattle elementary school. These competing accounts have law enforcement and parents in the Sand Point neighborhood at odds. Seattle Police claim the principal at Sand Point Elementary did not cooperate with officers, and so they had no choice but to let the intruder go. Parents say the principal bravely defended their children, not law enforcement.

The incident happened Thursday, just as class was getting out. Sam Scharenberg witnessed the chaos on the playground after 20-year-old Liban Harsam hopped the fence. She was out on the blacktop with cupcakes, celebrating her first-grader’s birthday.

“It was terrifying, I didn’t really know the extent of what was happening,” said Scharenberg. “I saw the intruder and then one of our staff members told me to call 911.”

Ella Vanderbilt says her first-grader was also at that same party.

“When he first showed up, they didn’t know if he was armed or not,” said Vanderbilt.

Court documents show staff was unable to lock the door to a portable classroom. Police reports say Harsam broke in and “grabbed a student.”

A fifth-grade student in that classroom told KIRO 7 that the teacher came into the portable classroom and forced the intruder out.

“I feel like the principal and all the teachers did exactly the right thing and were incredibly brave,” said Vanderbilt.

Parents like Vanderbilt are pushing back on the narrative from Seattle Police that the principal was “uncooperative.”

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