Guard shoots boy, 15, at FDA office in Bothell

Guard shoots boy, 15, at FDA office in Bothell

www.seattlepi.com

BOTHEL -- A security guard shot a 15-year-old boy at a Food and Drug Administration regional facility in Bothell early Friday, according to police.

Bothell Police Captain Denise Langford said it was not immediately clear why the guard fired at the boy at about 7 a.m. in the parking lot of the FDA's Pacific Regional Laboratory Northwest.

The teenager got into a car after he was hit by gunfire and crashed into another vehicle about a mile away on the Bothell-Everett Highway

(visit the link for the full news article)

We now have the EPA, DHS, HUD and now the FDA with armed personnel and in some cases outright SWAT-like forces. What could a reasonable justification for having armed security guards at a FDA facility in a rural area like Bothell, WA? What are they protecting and what threat could an unarmed kid who has connections and relationships with the security firm represent?

That the "security guard" was employed by an outside firm, is irrelevant. Why do we need armed guards at an FDA facility at all? To the extent that they do have a reasonable justification for the armed security, they hire a firm that employes 15 year old kids?

Something here makes absolutely no sense.

www.seattlepi.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by dolphinfan


you're right. for starters, your statement that the firm hires 15 year olds makes no sense. where does it say that at any point? the private security guard shot a 15 year old. it doesn't say that a 15 year old security guard shot another 15 year old.

as for why the FDA building has an armed guard presence....well, A) its a federal building, I have yet to be in one that doesn't have security personnel, armed and unarmed, inside and outside. B) the article says that its a laboratory, not some "plain" office building. so I would imagine they have stuff in the lab that they don't want people to get their hands on. whether its something nefarious is totally up for debate, and that debate won't get anywhere.

as for why the guard shot the kid....who knows? that article didn't have much to say about why it happened, so we'll just wait and see.

I'm sure there are quite a few people that are upset with the FDA for one reason or another and there is always a chance they may take that anger out with violence.

How many threads are on this site complaining about an issue with the FDA. Now through in a mentally unstable person and I can easily see why they would want armed personel there.

All government facilities are potentially at risk.

I'll watch the local news tonight, if anything more than some kid acting a fool and getting himself into some heat turns up, I'll be sure to drop back in.


Otherwise, it looks as though the kid was acting awry and didn't know what he was messing with. Probably trying to vandalize or break in is my guess, and this was the outcome.

Minor point, perhaps, but Bothell is hardly a "rural area." This is right off Interstate 405. You might get away with calling it suburban, but that whole area is surrounded by malls and business "parks." Beyond that the kid is now in police custody and we simply do not know yet what the issue was.

Some additional links:

Seattle Times article

Picture of this "rural" area:

Keep us informed, the poor child probably stopped to make a call on his cell phone. I have a feeling he was innocent.

He may have been lost and was going to ask directions? Why are there pictures of a ball cap and glove in the linked picture I wonder?

16 is the legal age to drive btw, so who knows maybe he was turning around to head back home or something.

There was an academy with student nearby. Not sure if he was old enough to be a student but he could have family there, a brother, and have traveled with him to school and was then on his way, somewhere. Not at all sure, but there was a college or some school nearby with young people.

also, I have to ask how you came to know the 15 year old has connections and relationships with the security firm. I've seen nothing that indicates that, so either you've made it up to add a bit of intrigue to the story, or its an off-shoot of your erroneous statement that it was a 15 year old security guard.

side note: in Washington state it's illegal for anybody under the age of 18 to own or be in possession of a handgun, outside of a few very well regulated circumstances. that means it would be illegal to hire a 15 year old as an armed guard in the first place.

reply to post by dolphinfan

That the "security guard" was employed by an outside firm, is irrelevant. Why do we need armed guards at an FDA facility at all?

Depends on what they do there.
Most of those places do animal testing.
Gotta keep out those pesky crazy environmentalists.
Sometimes they get riled up.

lol

Originally posted by dolphinfan


We now have the EPA, DHS, HUD and now the FDA with armed personnel and in some cases outright SWAT-like forces. What could a reasonable justification for having armed security guards at a FDA facility in a rural area like Bothell, WA? What are they protecting and what threat could an unarmed kid who has connections and relationships with the security firm represent?

That the "security guard" was employed by an outside firm, is irrelevant. Why do we need armed guards at an FDA facility at all? To the extent that they do have a reasonable justification for the armed security, they hire a firm that employes 15 year old kids?

Something here makes absolutely no sense.

www.seattlepi.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

I thought we were supposed to all have guns and everything is to be guarded by people with guns - now I am confused.

I am not suprised that the FDA are putting armed guards all over the place. Lets face it, they annoy the hell out of an awful lot of people, an awful lot of the time. They were failing the consumer when they used to allow the meat industry to self regulate, and they slam backyard farmers when they grow more vegetables than they are "allowed" to. Plenty of anger aimed at them, from all sorts of people.

What does confuse me some is why we have not been told about the specific events that lead to this young man being shot at. It seems to me that there are limited reasons for an armed guard to pull his weapon, let alone fire it, and let alone, fire it at a person. So, either the kid had been doing something nefarious, or at least very stupid, or the guard fully deserves a kicking and to never work again in that field.

Perhaps we will gain more insight as time passes. I would certainly be interested to know what lead to this shambles.

Update: The Seattle Times article linked above has been updated:

According to the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office, at around 7 a.m., a private security guard contracted with the federal government to provide protection to the FDA lab, 22215 26th Ave. S.E., approached a suspicious person in the parking lot. The person fled on foot, then returned a short time later and got into a vehicle parked at the facility.

As the guards approached the vehicle, the suspect backed out and the vehicle struck one of the guards, the Sheriff’s Office said. The guards fired at the vehicle.

The kid was shot in the foot. He managed to drive himself home, hitting another car in the process. Police picked him up at his home and took him to the hospital where he was treated, then arrested and is now in police custody.

?'s from TrueBrit: I believe it was the kid's car. Initially the security guard approached the car. The kid got out and ran. He later returned and attempted to speed off, and this is when he hit the guard, who then fired on him, hitting him in the foot. No word on the guard, but he wasn't injured enough to prevent him from firing his weapon nor was the kid hurt so badly he couldn't drive.

I surmise he was hyped on adrenalin, so as he was trying to get away he did a hit & run on another car, but there must have been enough information for the cops to get to his house where he was detained. We probably won;t get any new info until tomorrow.

reply to post by schuyler


thanks for the updated article. imagine that, even private security guards don't take kindly to somebody hitting them with a car.

reply to post by schuyler


Ok, first of all, thanks schuyler for the update.

Now, questions. First of all, was the kid trying to steal a car? Second, was the injured guard ok after the incident?

I'd like to know why a 15 year old kid was at an FDA location at 7am ? That kinda seems fishy. Maybe he was casing cars? I don't know but the whole thing reeks of someone causing some type of trouble.

reply to post by schuyler


I just wonder how the kid was shot in the foot if he was attempting to drive away?
Wouldn't both feet be inside the car?
Maybe the door was open.

reply to post by azureskys


rounds fired into the passenger compartment can penetrate most newer auto doors pretty easily. round deflects off something on its way through the door and hits his foot. guard is trying to fire after being hit and is just trying to get rounds on target to stop the threat. there's any of a dozen very plausible, normal, boring reasons why it could/did happen.

reply to post by dolphinfan


How do we know the kid didnt have a gun?

There was plenty of time for him to toss a weapon after an attempted break in.

Originally posted by dolphinfan

Guard shoots boy, 15, at FDA office in Bothell

www.seattlepi.com

BOTHEL -- A security guard shot a 15-year-old boy at a Food and Drug Administration regional facility in Bothell early Friday, according to police.

Bothell Police Captain Denise Langford said it was not immediately clear why the guard fired at the boy at about 7 a.m. in the parking lot of the FDA's Pacific Regional Laboratory Northwest.

The teenager got into a car after he was hit by gunfire and crashed into another vehicle about a mile away on the Bothell-Everett Highway

(visit the link for the full news article)

Well for starters, this is awful. I'm incredibly sorry a young life was endangered by his own foolishness. Government facilities should not be taken lightly, they are private property and just like any other US property they have the right to defend their property and employees if they feel threatened in any way. The same as you can shoot a man for trespassing on your own property, the government and it's employees can do the same to those trespassing on THEIR PRIVATE PROPERTY.

I'm sure how ever this could have been handled in a different manner, and we will not know if the security guard felt the use of force was necessary until more details are released.

Now, the food and drug administration handles all sorts of products, for consumers, labs, pharmacies, households and hospitals.

They deal in Food products, their additives, medications and some chemicals. A facility such as this would handle all sorts of products, medications, soups, foods, additives both new and current. Testing and development is likely done on site. There are likely formulas that are "trade secrets," that the facility would take the utmost seriousness in preventing coming into the hands of competitors. As well, I would imagine various types of medications could be stored or developed on site, ranging from over the counter NSA's to prescription only pain killers, stimulants, etc.

Not only would finished products likely be on site for testing, improvement and development but the ingredients to make them as well. Many of these items would be very tempting to would be thieves for a variety of reasons. Until we know more this 15 year old could have been looking for drugs, chemicals to make drugs, or items to sell as laboratory grad e chemicals can be quite valuable. It could even be this 15 year old was a subscriber to conspiracy theories or activist groups looking to expose something he felt the FDA was up to. He could have been attempting to sabotage a batch of medication, additives etc. At this time, it's incredibly hard to speculate with out more information.

The FDA would have more than enough reasons to have armed guards, and I do not blame them for using the utmost care in protecting the assets there with in.

I will have to agree, a full grown man should have been able to handle a 15 year old with out the use of his firearm, but we are unaware as to whether the teen was armed or posed a significant threat to the guard, the facility, or the materials with in.