Seattle-area principal found high on cocaine with loaded gun at grocery store, put on leave

Michael and Meghan Griffin, husband and wife, are both elementary school principals in the Northshore School District in Bothell, Washington, and have been placed on administrative leave through the end of the school year.

Michael is the principal at Sunrise Elementary and Meghan is the principal at Moorlands Elementary.

According to police documents obtained by The Post Millennial, on April 30, officers responded to a disturbance call at the QFC on 161 Ave NE in Redmond and found Michael “in a paranoid state likely under the influence of cocaine.”

One of the responding officers said Michael had “dilated pupils”, as well as “visible white powder on his lips”, and was making “delusional statements.”

According to law enforcement, Michael was convinced his wife was trying to communicate with him through written notes and attempted to give the responding officer two bags filled with documents and valuables to hold onto “because he could not keep anything in his house.”

He also tried to convince the responding officer that his wife was being “pimped", and pointed at “uninvolved people,” because he “believed his wife was in danger of possibly being trafficked.”

“Griffin identified himself and said he was the principal at Sunrise Elementary in the Northshore School District.” Michael stated, “My wife is Megan Griffin, we go to Las Vegas all the time, someone got ahold of her and…their…it’s like a trafficking thing. She has something on her that they can see or like she is communicating with them. She has been writing me notes, you have to trust me”.

Michael pointed at other uninvolved people near QFC and said, “There’s a team of them, look look” and told officers, “There’s more people in the parking lot watching my white car, I know I sound crazy, and irrational please just trust me.”

He also pointed to an Amazon truck that he said was near his car in the parking lot and said he believed “they” were trying to get into his car.

According to the documents, Griffin also “took his pistol to QFC chambered and unsecured in his front sweatshirt pocket.”

“A loaded and chambered Glock-19 was removed from Griffin and entered into Redmond Police Evidence as safekeeping.”

Officers located Michael’s wife, Meghan inside the grocery store with her daughters. Meghan was “visibly upset and crying” and mentioned she did not know where her 10-year-old son ran to after Michael told their son to run. The boy was later located across the street at a nearby business.

She told officers that Michael was convinced she was having an affair with an old college friend which she said was not true, and that he was paranoid about it and that his paranoia had been going on for about a month and had been getting worse lately. Officers also noted that Michael had yelled at a stranger before his wife intervened.

Police said Michael was involuntarily taken to the hospital after the incident.

Later that day, Michael’s brother Gerald Griffin came to the Redmond Police Department to turn over two firearms he said belonged to Michael because he was concerned about him having access to firearms with his declining mental state. Gerald turned over an SKS Semi-Automatic rifle and a Winchester Shotgun along with 19 rounds of 7.62 X 39 ammunition.

The public school district put Michael on leave on May 9 after learning about the incident.

On May 30, the district also placed his wife Meghan on leave. According to an email that the principal at Moorlands Elementary sent out to families, the district “became aware of statements made by Principal Meghan Griffin in a police report.”

According to a handwritten statement given to Redmond Police by Megan and obtained by The Post Millennial, she wrote, “Our recreational drug use began about a year ago while on vacation. It increased recently.”

She continued, “Michael and I went to see our primary care doctor on March 22, 2023. The doctor told us we needed to stop the use of cocaine and that at the next check-up, the doctor would do a full workup to check for anything else that could be causing the delusions.”

According to Redmond police, no criminal charges have been filed, but officers applied for an Extreme Risk Protection Order, and took formal possession of Michael’s firearms. Officers wrote in the application, “The Redmond Police Department fears that Griffin’s paranoia will only continue to increase and could cause him to end up in an altercation with an uninvolved party.”