Houghton’s 73-acre Watershed Park is heavily wooded, but on April 17 at noon, the area had a heavy police presence and residents couldn’t figure out why.

One concerned neighbor said there were up to nine police cars, noting that other neighbors were now frightened to go into the park.

Neighbors heard rumors that there was gun activity in the usually quiet residential area.

But according to Kirkland Police Department Officer Audra Weber, this was a case of a man trying to do the right thing.

Around noon that day, an area resident was reportedly hiking at Watershed Park when he came across four Emerson High School students who were allegedly smoking what the man thought was marijuana, Weber said. The hiker started filming the teenagers with his phone but they got upset and surrounded him.

“He was afraid, he was by himself,” Weber said. “He had a gun on him, he was cleared to carry, and he displayed the gun to them. Then they backed off.”

Weber said the man did not commit any crime in displaying his weapon and he was simply a neighbor in the area who was trying to be proactive.

The students went back to school and the incident was reported, she said. No arrests or charges have been made although Kirkland police are still investigating the case.

For more information, contact the Kirkland Police Department at (425) 587-3400. If you have additional information, email letters@kirklandreporter.com.