North Thurston High School locked down Wednesday after theft at nearby gun shop
A 25-year-old man accused of stealing a firearm from a shop in Olympia Wednesday prompted a school lockdown at North Thurston High School.
Olympia and Lacey police responded at 1:16 p.m. to a reported theft at Private Sector Arms at 4039 Martin Way E.
The gun shop is less than half a mile southwest of the high school. Schools in the area went into lockdown for the safety of staff and students, the Lacey Police Department shared on Facebook. The lockdown was lifted after investigators deemed the area safe. No students or staff were involved in the incident.
Court records describe the investigation into the incident from the perspective of law enforcement.
The man is accused of running out of the store with a 9 mm Taurus gun and fleeing north on Sleater Kinney Road toward the high school.
Police contacted the man as well as an employee within three minutes of being dispatched. Officers handcuffed and disarmed both the man and the employee, and both were compliant, according to court records.
After being released from handcuffs, the employee told police he handed the man the unloaded gun when he asked to look at it in the store. Within about 30 seconds, the employee said the man turned and ran out the door.
The employee said he chased the man all the way to the high school and complied when law enforcement arrived.
The owner of the store said he heard the employee yelling, “no, no, no” and watched him chase the man out of the store and up the road.
Once detained, the man declined to speak with law enforcement. Olympia police booked him into the county jail on suspicion theft of a firearm and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, according to the jail roster.
Court records indicate the man had been convicted of second-degree assault, robbery and criminal mischief with a deadly weapon in a 2022 Thurston County Superior Court case.
He also has two no-contact orders on file in which he’s prohibited from possessing firearms.
