A man was arrested at Roosevelt High School on Thursday after claiming to be a military agent and refusing to leave the premises, according to a Seattle Police Department incident report.
Officers responded to the school at 1410 Northeast 66th Street at about 1:26 p.m. after a call reported a man inside the building talking about reconnaissance and refusing to leave.
The report stated that the man claimed to be with the military and the U.S. Court of Appeals.
School staff reported the man had handcuffs in his back pocket, was trying to approach the principal, and that the school was placed under a shelter-in-place lockdown.
When they arrived, officers were shown a photo of a card the man had presented to school staff and recognized the man as a suspect in previous incidents.
KIRO 7 News is looking into these previous incidents.
Staff told the officers that the man said he was at the school for reconnaissance and that he threatened to arrest people who tried to stop him.
When police located the man, staff members told them he had a weapon.
Officers arrested the man for criminal impersonation and possession of weapons on school grounds.
He was wearing a plate carrier with a taser inside a holster, and had pepper spray in his pocket. A badge with “Air Combat Command” was found on his vest.
According to the report, the man was advised of his Miranda Rights but did not answer if he understood them. He told officers he was at the school to protect the children because the principal had criminal charges from Evergreen.
A search after arrest revealed the man had a notebook with a plastic card stating “United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces Washington D.C.,” with a print of his name.
The notebook contained English writing of “mass casualty” and Korean sentences, and his backpack held a drone, caltrops and other items.
A member of the school district’s Central Security team told officers the man came to the school claiming to be an agent of the U.S. Court of Appeals, stating that the “Federal RICO act” allowed him to be there.
The staff member said he told the man to leave multiple times, but the man refused and kept walking.
He also said the man threatened to arrest him and showed handcuffs. The security team member also saw the man attempt to handcuff the vice principal.
According to the report, the vice principal told officers the man said “I’m going to arrest you” and reached for something that the vice principal initially believed was a gun, but then saw was a taser.
The vice principal said he feared for his safety and the safety of others at that time.
The vice principal also stated that the man reached for the taser twice and the handcuffs approximately eight times, although he did not pull the taser out of the holster.
Following the arrest, the school lockdown was lifted.
The man was transported to the North Precinct, and then to King County Jail.
He was booked on felony charges of burglary and criminal impersonation, as well as misdemeanor charges for harassment and possessing a weapon on school property.
Authorities also noted they request additional charges for misdemeanors and recommend that the case be referred to a mental health court.
Among the items seized were a taser and cartridges, a plate carrier, a fake organization ID, a cell phone, a backpack, caltrops, pepper spray, handcuffs, a wooden tool, a screwdriver, a reflective light, a notebook, a drone, a radiation scanner and a recorder.
The man was described as an Asian male in his 20s, approximately 5′10″, wearing a camo hat with sunglasses, a camo shirt and tan pants, with a band-aid on his face.
The Seattle Police Department said the case is still under investigation.
©2025 Cox Media Group
