Logan High School - Three hour lock down - kids just released
Logan High School is about two block from where I live. While raking up pine needles from the redwoods in the backyard, a helicopter started flying overhead. It was a Channel 2 - Fox News chopper and it was flying much lower than the law allows (1000 feet.) When it wouldn't leave, we decided to check out what was going on in the area.
We first drove just a block before we were stopped by a neighbor. The woman had noticed us taking pictures of the low flying helicopter. She told us her son attends Logan but was home sick. He was receiving updates from his girlfriend, who had gone to school, about the situation inside. They were on lock down. Someone had threatened to "shoot up the school."
The cops had blocked off the streets going to the school, so we turned around and went home. We were trying to get pictures of the Fox News chopper flying lower than the 1000 feet, when we saw the drone. My first drone sighting, at least one like this. It was flying lower than the helicopter and almost silent. Freaky. Hopefully, the person I was with got a picture, as we're reporting both to the FAA.
We decided to walk to the school parking lot. As we walked, we first came upon cops, a couple of firetrucks and an ambulance surrounding an SUV. We still don't know if this vehicle or its owner were somehow involved, or if it was an undercover vehicle, that just happened to have the back door up.
We continued to go closer to the school and found parents hanging with each other, all very worried about their children. The kids were locked in whatever room they had been in when the threat came in, with lights out, no sounds allowed. They could text their parents with updates but they were not allowed to call.
One young mother told us she was in Oakland when her freshman son sent a text, "we're on lock down, there's a shooter." The mom told us, "He's my only child. I've been crying, I'm scared. I sent him here to get him away from the gangs. This is supposed to be a good school." Another mother told us she was receiving texts from her two children, both freshman. One of her children had sent a text, "we're okay." This mother said, "Well I'M NOT!" She told us she can't believe she didn't get in an accident, racing there from San Francisco, where she had been when she first found out."
A cop walked over to give us an update, stopping a student who was trying to cross the street, off school property. The cop told the kid, "You're not allowed to leave the property. Stay on this side of the street." The update was, "They're not letting the kids out yet. They're searching every room to make sure it's safe." One of the parents, a dad, said, "My daughter has a doctor's appointment. It's hard to get in to see this doctor" obviously, a plea to see his daughter and remove her from the situation inside the school. The Officer simply replied, "I'm sorry, you'll have to reschedule."
In an attempt to get more information, I asked the Officer if there had actually been a shooter, seen in the school, with a gun, or if a threat had been called in?" He stated, "It was a call."
The parents, my friend and I, all had a short conversation about “the fucking NRA.” Complete agreement that the, “NRA is the worst thing that has ever happened to this country.”
Wandering over closer to the school, telling freaked out parents as we passed them "It was a phone threat, no one was seen with a gun" and receiving a "Thank you" response from each one, we came upon a group of students just hanging out in front of one of the buildings. Turns out, this threat happened during lunch. Many kids leave for lunch, making a short trek to the nearby fast food restaurants. When they returned, however, they were not allowed back inside. But they also were not allowed to leave the property. They talked to us for a while, telling us what little they knew about was going on, which wasn’t much. Just what the texts, facebook updates and tweets they received stated. Turned out, we knew more than they did.
We told these kids about the dad trying to get his daughter out of the school by using the doctor's appointment. One young man then told us, "I had a dentist appointment. My mom came to pick me up and got in the school. Now SHE can't come out and I can't go in!" While we all laughed, it was noted that this is only funny because we know everyone is okay.
As we walked away, all these young kids told us, "be safe." That will never be forgotten by me.
Finally, the warning bells that had been going off for nearly three hours, stopped. The kids were allowed out. Grateful, happy, parents, that were by this time, surrounding the school, were noticeably relieved.
I cannot fathom what it would be like, especially in this day and age, to get a call from the school, "The school is on lock down. Everyone is safe but the situation is being investigated. Your child won’t be able to leave until the police are finished checking the school." All the while, receiving texts from your child or children, "I can't call. We're not allowed to make a sound. The rooms are dark. There's a shooter." (Evidently, the fact it was a phone threat, didn't reach all the kids.)
It is a sick society we live in, when children are subjected to this, across the country, nearly daily. Luckily, this was a threat. Still, a threat that caused so much fright, so many tears, so much anxiety, loss of work, loss of study, missed appointments, resources used up that could have been used elsewhere. What it must be like to grow up with a very real fear, "I could be shot dead today because I went to school." What must this do to the psyche? How can we possibly expect kids to care about life? No wonder narcissism is running rampant. Why should a child of today give a shit about anything? How difficult it must be for parents to make their kids understand that, life is precious.
All because GUNS! All because NRA! All because Second Amendment! All because of complete and total idiocy that has swept the nation, especially state and federal officials, because of the fucking NRA.
= new reply since forum marked as read
That's so deep and intellectual.
And your condemning the NRA, 2A, guns because the authorities are taking these threats seriously?
Shouldn't this be a good thing? Shouldn't threats from assholes be taken seriously?
