Reardan schools evacuate due to threat

Records say unruly parent made threats from Spokane

Drew Lawson, The Record-Times | Last updated Oct 13, 2022 5:1pm0

REARDAN-A reported threat from an angry parent in Spokane County forced the school district here to evacuate and send home students late Thursday morning Oct. 6.

According to police reports, police chief Andy Manke was notified by the Spokane County Sheriff's Office that 42-year-old Richard W. Bisbee told deputies he was going to bring an AR-15 to the school in Reardan after he was served a protection order prohibiting him from contacting his estranged wife and three children, who attended school here.

"Bisbee stated he was going to the school and take his AR-15 and grab his kids...you're going to have to kill me," police records allege.

"Andy (Manke) called me and briefed me on what was going on," superintendent Eric Sobotta said. "We secured the perimeter of the school and continued on...we were hoping the situation would resolve and go back to normal, but that never happened."

The threat warranted a vast police response, with two Reardan officers, seven Lincoln County Sheriff's Office deputies and four Washington State Patrol troopers dispatched to the school.

Deputies waited for Bisbee along the Highway 2 corridor for 90 minutes, then decided to evacuate students from the school to the Inland Northwest Rail Museum, where Sobotta told parents to pick up their children.

"As soon as the bus left, I put an all-call out," Sobotta said.

Meanwhile, Manke met with Bisbee's estranged wife, who had come to the school to receive her three children. Another oldest stepson had not been listed on the protection order was transported home, while the wife and three other children were escorted to an undisclosed residence in Spokane to remove any interest Bisbee had in the Reardan school, records state.

"He doesn't have any interest in Reardan school anymore," Manke said on the day of the incident.