Niwot High School students investigated for threats against the school

Arrest warrants issued for two 16-year-old students today

Niwot, Colo. - On February 16, the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office received a “Safe 2 Tell” report that a 16-year-old juvenile male student at Niwot High School, located at 8989 Niwot Road in unincorporated Boulder County, made statements and posted a video on social media which were generally related to the recent school shooting in Florida. These online comments caused other Niwot students alarm and resulted in several Safe2Tell reports being made.

The school district and law enforcement officials responded immediately after learning of a potential threat to the school and worked cooperatively to determine if it was credible. An investigation was launched by the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office, with the assistance of Niwot High School, St. Vrain Valley School District (SVVSD), and the Longmont Police Department. Through the course of the investigation a second 16-year-old male juvenile student was identified as being involved.

The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office asked the school district to keep information about the report confidential to protect the integrity of the ongoing investigation. Upon learning of their involvement, Niwot High School immediately addressed the matter and both of the students were not allowed on SVVSD property while the investigation was being conducted. Both of the students’ school lockers were searched and investigators also executed search warrants at the students’ homes and on their electronic devices.

Based on the investigation, on Friday, March 16, two arrest warrants were issued. One of the juvenile students is charged with:

• Interference with an Educational Institution (a class one misdemeanor)
• 1st Degree Criminal Tampering (a class one misdemeanor)
• 4th Degree Arson (a class two misdemeanor)
• 2nd Degree Criminal Tampering (a class two misdemeanor)
• Criminal Mischief, less than $300 (a class three misdemeanor)
• The other juvenile male student is being charged with:
• 1st Degree Criminal Tampering (a class one misdemeanor)
• Criminal Mischief, less than $300 (a class three misdemeanor)

Both 16-year-old boys surrendered themselves mid-afternoon and were booked into the Boulder County Juvenile Detention Center. Both arrest warrants have a $1,000 bond and order both boys to have no contact with the Niwot High School campus or with each other. The investigation uncovered that the two students had a desire to disrupt school and cause damage to the campus infrastructure, which may have put students and staff at risk.

“We want to assure our community that we take school threats seriously, and we actively work with our law enforcement partners and the school districts to provide a safe learning and teaching environment for the students and faculty,” Robert Sullenberger, Boulder County Sheriff’s Office Operations Division Chief.

State law precludes identifying the juveniles arrestees, absent a court order, or releasing their mugshots.

The associated Boulder County Sheriff’s Office case number is: 18-903.