(WEST FARGO) – Court documents are telling more about the situation Tuesday morning that led to Westside Elementary School being placed into ‘secure school protocol’ for 24 hours.
According to court documents obtained Friday afternoon, Officer Todd Pearson received a phone call from Westside Elementary School principal Chris Kalsow on Tuesday saying a staff member was threatened by a subject outside of the school.
Kalsow told Pearson that the subject told the staff member ‘he hopes the staff member never has kids and he was going to get his guns and going to come back tomorrow and shoot up the school.’
Other officers were informed and a description was given of the suspect.
On Wednesday, an officer was patrolling when, at approximately 6:27 a.m., officers were dispatched to Westside Elementary School on a report of a suspicious male walking around in the bus loop. The police report said this was ‘concerning due to the threats call the previous morning by an unknown male suspect that caused the school to go into lockdown.’
Officers arrived on the scene and observed a male matching the description of the suspect from the day prior. They stopped the male, who was riding on a bicycle.
The male, identified as James Arneson, admitted to riding his bicycle past the school Tuesday morning, and that his digital speedometer had fallen off of his handle bars, and he requested a female school staff to assist him in picking it up so he could put it back on his bike.
When asked if he had made any threatening statements towards the staff member, Arneson denied making any such statements and didn’t remember saying anything to the female school staff member.
Authorities eventually informed the suspect, Arneson, that they had ‘enough probable cause’ to arrest him for terrorizing.
On Thursday, Arneson was charged with one count of terrorizing, a Class C felony.
He appeared this morning for a bail hearing, and district court judge Steven McCullough ordered bond in the amount of $25,000. He remains in custody at the Cass County Jail.
