On Thursday, October 10th, at around 1:00pm there was an announcement that went over the loudspeakers that sent the school into a panic. The announcement stated there was an intruder in the building and they were near the eighth grade bathrooms. Many fled the school, meeting at the reunification point, St. Luke’s Church, while others stayed put and locked down in classrooms.
My experience during this was a little different from those that were at lunch or in classrooms. During the initial lockdown announcement, my class and I were waiting outside the locker rooms waiting to be let in after gym class. No one really heard the announcement because so many people were talking and there was already a lot of energy and commotion down there. Once the announcement ended, many of the students were confused due to only hearing bits and pieces of information, and then the teachers started getting concerned. When I began to actually understand what was going on was when Mr. Anderson unlocked the doors to the locker room to get us locked in there and safe and told us that we were in a lockdown and he didn’t believe there was a true intruder, but to stay put. Following the initial announcement were two announcements made by Principal Callaghan updating the school about the situation.
The suspense of just waiting in the locker rooms and waiting for more information was stressful, especially knowing many of my friends were still in the school locked in classrooms. In the locker rooms, the teachers did very well staying calm in a tough situation. I sympathize with all of the teachers because obviously it’s scary for students, but it’s the teachers job to keep the students safe and help students while trying to stay safe and calm themselves.
Some students have reported that in other classrooms, their teachers made no efforts to barricade the doors or evacuate their students, and instead just kept teaching with no concern. Personally, I think if there is even any talk of possible danger or an intruder that every precaution should be taken, especially because in America there have been frequent school shootings throughout the years.
According to an anonymous student, they were in a class where the teacher didn’t take any precautions and took the risk to keep teaching. This student stated this teacher kept opening the door for anyone that opened it, but wouldn’t let anyone check their phones to see what was going on. Many of the students in this classroom were generally calm, but very confused on why they were still working while there was a school wide lockdown in place. This student believes that the teacher should’ve taken the situation more seriously whether it was real or not.
According to the K-12 School Shooting Database, there have been 202 shootings at schools in 2025 so far. This database’s statistics include gang shootings, domestic violence, shootings at sports games and afterhours school events, suicides, fights that escalate into shootings, and accidents. These statistics prove the seriousness of any type of lockdown because even though we were lucky enough to not have a real intruder, it is a real possibility. If there truly was an intruder, then everyone would’ve been in serious danger, especially those that didn’t take the precautions they should’ve.
Although this event was very scary and unexpected, the administration did well keeping students calm and safe. This event really brought the school together and was a check back into reality for many. This showed everyone that we need to work together to keep everyone safe in scary situations.
