School lockdowns unrelated

Three schools in West Bremerton were locked down at 1 p.m. for nearly an hour Tuesday after a 911 caller reported gunshots had been fired near West Sound Technical Skills Center on National Avenue.

West Sound, West Hills Elementary and Renaissance High schools, as well as the district’s administration building on Marion Avenue, were locked down until 1:55 p.m., according to Bremerton School District (BSD) spokeswoman Patty Glaser.

She said the lockdown was “precautionary,” delaying school buses on nearby routes for about 15 minutes.

The Bremerton Police Department scoured the area with dogs, finding no evidence of shots being fired, before notifying the district that students could be released, Glaser said.

The Central Kitsap School District (CKSD) reopened school at 10 a.m. after having locked down Cottonwood Elementary, Fairview Junior High, PineCrest Elementary and Woodlands Elementary schools while Kitsap County Sheriff’s deputies searched for a burglary suspect.

Tuesday’s incidents are not believed to be connected.

The CK burglary was reported around 6:30 a.m. at the Golden Mum restaurant off Central Valley Road in Bremerton.

Kitsap County Sheriff’s Detective Sgt. Eric Bockelie said the owners, who were sleeping inside the restaurant, awoke to find a man inside the building. One owner chased him outside and said he thought the man had some sort of weapon, according to Bockelie.

Detectives developed a person of interest and searched the man’s residence, located at nearby Weatherstone Apartments.

Bockelie said they found items related to the burglary and some cash taken from Golden Mum inside the man’s apartment and on his person.

The 38-year-old Bremerton man was booked into Kitsap County Jail for two counts of burglary and theft of cash from a former employer. He robbed the Golden Mum once before and stole from a former employer last year, according to Bockelie.

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