Update: Braeden Richard Reiss Facing Federal Charge in School Shooting Threat

June 17, 2022

Today, a Federal Grand Jury in Portland indicted Mr. Reiss with threatening a mass shooting at Middleton Elementary School. Mr. Reiss is being charged with Transmitting a Threat in Interstate Commerce. 

Case History: On May 15th, 2022, a federal agency reached out to the Sherwood Police Department regarding several threatening emails they had received from Mr. Reiss. The emails from Mr. Reiss expressed his desire to kill people, specifically children. Within the emails, he expressed a desire to commit these crimes at Middleton Elementary in Sherwood, OR.

Sherwood School Resource Officer and Sherwood Detectives began investigating the case immediately and notified the Sherwood School District of the threats. 

Sherwood Police Department contacted the Washington County District Attorney’s Office to work through charges and obtaining a search warrant for Mr. Reiss’s residence. Because of the limited scope of charges, we worked with a Washington County Circuit Court Judge to increase and secure a higher bail for Mr. Reiss.

On May 16, 2022, Sherwood Police Department Detectives and School Resource Officer conducted surveillance on Mr. Reiss's residence, arrested him without incident, and executed a search warrant on his residence. 

On May 17, 2022, Mr. Reiss was arraigned on six counts of Disorderly Conduct in the First Degree, the maximum available charge under Oregon law. However, because Oregon Law does not provide sufficient means to address threats of mass violence, the Washington County District Attorney's Office reached out to the U.S. Attorney General's Office to refer the case for federal prosecution. 

Oregon law does not provide adequate means to address threats of mass violence to public places such as schools and places of worship. We stand alongside Washington County District Attorney Kevin Barton who is actively working with multiple state legislators to remedy this issue. 

The safety and well-being of students and staff in our community is our highest priority. We take all threats seriously, and will exhaustively investigate them and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law.

We'd like to thank the U.S. Attorney's Office in Oregon, the FBI - Federal Bureau of Investigation - Portland Office, Washington County Sheriff's Office, and the Washington County District Attorney's Office for their work on this case. 

Update: Suspect Identified and Additional Information Released

May 17, 2022

Yesterday, The Sherwood Police Department arrested Braeden Reiss on multiple counts of Disorderly Conduct in the 1^st Degree, an A misdemeanor.

He was lodged in the Washington County Jail with a bail amount of $50,000. (the full $50,000 is required to post bail)

Case History:

A federal agency reached out to the Sherwood Police Department regarding several threatening emails they had received from Reiss. The emails from Reiss expressed his desire to kill people, specifically children. Within the emails, he expressed a desire to commit these crimes at Middleton Elementary in Sherwood, OR.

Once we were made aware of the threats, we put our Detectives and SRO on the case immediately. We began surveillance of his residence and obtaining as much background and historical information on Reiss as possible.

We contacted the Sherwood School District and made them aware of the threats. We advised them we would be taking him into custody as soon as possible. Our plan was not to let him get near any of the schools, however, out of an abundance of caution, we agreed with the Sherwood School District to secure Middleton Elementary School while we completed our investigation. We also elected to provide police presence during this time.

We also contacted the Washington County District Attorney’s office to work through charges and obtaining search warrants for Reiss’s residence. Because of the limited scope of charges, we worked with a Washington County Judge to increase and secure a higher bail for Reiss.

Reiss was not in possession of a firearm nor was one located in his residence.  Reiss was also serviced An Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO). This is a court order that prevents a person who is at risk of hurting another person or of committing suicide from having or getting deadly weapons, including firearms for the duration of the order.

The safety and well-being of students and staff in our community is our highest priority. We take all threats seriously, and will exhaustively investigate them and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law. We recognize how alarming and unsettling these incidents can be. We are sharing as many details of this case as we can to help parents and community members better understand the steps we took with this investigation.

Moving forward, we will continue to follow Reiss through the judicial process. We will be working with the Sherwood School District to address any issues with the possible release of Reiss prior to the end of the school year.

SUSPECT ARRESTED AFTER THREATS MADE TO SHERWOOD SCHOOL

May 16, 2022

The Sherwood Police Department received a report from a federal agency about ongoing threats made by a 26 year old male. Although this adult had made threats against schools, no specific school had been identified until now. Sherwood Police notified the Sherwood School District and advised them of the threats and they were being actively investigated. Sherwood Detectives and the School Resource Officer identified, located, and subsequently arrested the suspect on multiple counts of Disorderly Conduct in the 1^st Degree, a class A misdemeanor. The Sherwood Police Department and partnering agencies take these threats extremely seriously. However, under Oregon law there is not currently a felony crime that captures the alleged conduct. 

The person is currently being held at the Washington County Jail on a $50,000 bail. We value our partnership with the Sherwood School District and working with us to ensure the safety of the students and staff while we conducted our investigation. 

The investigation is still ongoing, and more details will be released at a later date. At this time, the Sherwood Police Department does not believe there is any further threat to the community or school district.