CHIMACUM — Two 14-year-old eighth-graders at Chimacum High School were taken into custody Monday morning after they arrived at school with a machete, meat cleaver and knives.
Investigations by Jefferson County Sheriff’s deputies revealed that there has been ongoing tension between some members of a group of Chimacum students who call themselves “Juggalos” — fans of a “horrorcore” rap group — and other students, and that there had been a confrontation at last Friday night’s Chimacum-Port Townsend football game.
One of the eighth-grade students had a 24-inch machete tucked into the back of his pants while the other had a meat cleaver and two folding knives in a backpack, Sheriff Tony Hernandez said.
The elementary, middle and high schools were locked down for three hours, ending just before noon, even though there was no apparent danger, as police searched the schools, Hernandez said.
“Nobody got hurt,” said Chimacum High School Principal Whitney Meissner.
“You don’t want the school to be locked down for three hours, but you do whatever you can to keep the kids safe.”
The two juveniles — who were not identified because of their age — were taken to the Kitsap County Juvenile Detention Facility in Port Orchard and are scheduled to appear in Jefferson County District Court today.
Hernandez said that the two students were involved in the confrontation in the stands during the Friday’s night football game.
Hernandez said the two students made threats at the game against another Chimacum student.
Meissner said she had heard about the threats over the weekend and informed the Sheriff’s Office on Monday.
Deputies arrived at the school at 7 a.m., after school officials told them “that a certain eighth-grade student was going to bring a firearm to school,” Chief Criminal Deputy Joseph Nole said in a statement.
When deputies searched him, they found the machete, but no firearms.
Later, they searched the second student, who had weapons in his backpack, Nole said.
“Subsequent investigation indicated that for the past two weeks, there has been ongoing tension between some members of a group of Chimacum students calling themselves ‘Juggalos’ and other Chimacum students,” Noles said.
The term “juggalo” is usually used to describe fans of the band Insane Clown Posse, a “horrorcore” rap group from Detroit known for dressing up as sadistic, mentally unstable clowns.
Fourteen students were interviewed about what they knew about the incident.
Meissner said she logged on to the individual students’ Facebook pages looking for information.
She did not find any specific threats on Facebook, but used the social network site after the lockdown began to determine more information.
During the lockdown, the State Patrol arrived with weapon-sniffing dogs. No other weapons were found.
The Port Townsend Police Department also assisted.
The Chimacum School District has approximately 900 students in elementary, middle and high school.
The Chimacum Primary School is in a different location and was not affected by the lockdown.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.