A juvenile defendant was charged with Arson in the First Degree in Washington State Superior Court for burning down Gault Middle School in Tacoma’s McKinley Hill Neighborhood, according to court records obtained by the Tacoma Sun.
Although three 15 year-olds were initially arrested by Gig Harbor police for the crime, only two faced charges in January 2024 – a male and his girlfriend. The male was placed on house detention with electronic home monitoring until the court hearing. The girlfriend was released to her parents.
Responding to a guilty plea offered in October 2024, a deal was struck in December 2024. It was decided that due to the fire not having any victims and the lack of criminal history of the defendant, a standard sentence of 129 weeks in a juvenile rehabilitation center be rejected in favor of a 20 day sentence with 180 days of electronic home monitoring (with credit of 113 days), plus 12 months probation.
Built in 1926, Gault Middle School was shuttered in 2009 by the the Tacoma School District citing low enrollment. Already suffering from years of deferred maintenance, the property became a magnet for break-ins and criminal behavior. Sounding an alarm to raise awareness about the situation, local non-profit organization Historic Tacoma placed the building on their Watch List in 2023. During the 15 years the school had been closed, the Tacoma Fire Department responded to multiple fires and emergencies on the property before the total loss 2024 fire.
* The Tacoma Sun makes it a practice to not name juveniles in court cases unless charged as an adult.
The Tacoma Sun 