Three first-grade students at Alki Elementary School in West Seattle told staff that an unknown woman approached them at the playground fence around 9:15 a.m. Thursday and tried to get them to come see a crown she said was in her car. The children ran to tell an adult instead, and the principal called 911 at 1:09 p.m., nearly four hours after the encounter.
According to KOMO News, the children described the woman as being about grandma age and said she was driving a silver vehicle. She reportedly told the kids she would come back later, then left before any staff member witnessed the exchange. The school's principal called 911 about the encounter shortly after 1 p.m. that day, per the same report.
Alki Elementary Principal Mason Skeffington also sent his own account directly to families, confirming that the three students were playing near the fence when the stranger offered them items from her car — and he praised the kids for running off to report it, according to West Seattle Blog. A Seattle Police patrol sergeant was sent to the campus during afternoon dismissal as a precaution, and the department has documented the report for its investigation.
District Deploys Extra Security as Staff Stay on Alert
In the aftermath, Seattle Public Schools Safety and Security sent a regional support specialist to the Alki campus and told recess duty staff to stay extra vigilant during recess, arrival, and dismissal, the outlet's report notes. Staff members planned to meet about the incident and remain watchful going forward.
Skeffington also pointed families toward SaferWatch, the district's platform for reporting safety concerns or suspicious activity around school perimeters, encouraging parents to use it alongside standard police safety guidance, per the same account.
New Campus, Open Fence Lines
The timing stings for a school community that just settled back into its own building. Alki Elementary students returned to their primary campus on September 2 after a multi-year redevelopment produced a new 91,000-square-foot school built to hold up to 542 students, according to Seattle Public Schools. Students had spent the previous three school years at an interim site at Schmitz Park while construction was underway — meaning the reported encounter came just a month after families finally moved back home.
The Alki campus is near public streets and Whale Tail Park, and the playground is enclosed by a fence. Seattle Public Schools builds its elementary facilities around Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design standards, which call for clear sightlines during outdoor supervision and controlled entry points — guidelines meant to help staff keep an eye on exactly this kind of open play space. Alki Elementary serves roughly 269 students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade within Seattle Public Schools District 6.
What Washington Law Says About Luring
Under Washington's RCW 9A.40.090, luring is a Class C felony involving the enticement of a minor into a motor vehicle or secluded place without parental consent and with intent to harm or facilitate a crime.
No staff member witnessed the interaction directly, and the woman left in her silver vehicle before officers arrived, so the case currently rests on the children's accounts and continuing detective work. It remains an open question whether nearby residential or municipal security cameras captured the vehicle, and what further perimeter or supervision changes the district will put in place at the rebuilt campus.
Similar reports have surfaced elsewhere in Western Washington this year. A Tacoma case in April ended with an arrest and a Class C felony luring charge after a driver invited a child into his car, with the suspect held in Pierce County Jail following a parent's report.
