Shooting threat at Olympia Federal Savings closes bank doors, 72-year-old man arrested

A 72-year-old man was arrested on May 7 after making shooting threats to the Olympia Federal Savings Bank employee.

The Olympia Police Department (OPD) responded to a mid-afternoon call from the bank, located at 421 Capital Way S, regarding threats made by their bank customer, Michael White.

According to the police report, the man had previously called the bank on May 6 at 5:15 p.m., after being informed his account would be frozen due to “unusual behavior.“

During the call, the suspect threatened to "shoot up the place" if his account was not reactivated.

When he was interviewed by the responding officers, the bank employee stated that “he was in fear that Michael was going to come into the branch today, or any of the other branches and act to the threats he made,” prompting the bank and the other branches, to lock its doors and close the lobby for safety.

Authorities received a robbery alarm from the bank the next day, May 7, alerting them that the suspect was outside the bank.

Officers found the suspect at a nearby bus stop, where he was arrested without incident.

During the search, a small pocketknife was found on him.

The suspect admitted to making the threats out of anger over the account closure but claimed he had no intention of acting on them and lacked access to firearms.

When asked why his bank account was closed, the suspect stated, “Because he was taking large amounts of money out for his wife.”

Based on the witness statement and the suspect’s admission to making the threat, he was booked into Thurston County Jail on charges of felony harassment, threats to kill, and threats to bomb or injure property.