Incidents prompt Vern Patrick Elementary lockout, lockdown

Two incidents Tuesday involving suspicious people in the area of Redmond’s Vern Patrick Elementary led first to a lockout and later a lockdown at the school, Principal Jennifer Hesse said in a note to parents.

Here’s that note, in full:

“Earlier today I was contacted by Redmond Police Department (RPD) informing me of a potentially suspicious person in the neighborhood. RPD directed us to go into “lockout” until they could investigate.

“Lockout is used when there is a potential danger in the surrounding area. We make sure all students and staff are inside the building and lock the doors. Inside the school, it is business as usual and the students continue their normal schedule. Later, we were contacted by RPD that it was safe to lift the lockout.

“Later, a suspicious person was spotted on school grounds and I immediately placed the school on “lockdown.” In a typical lockdown protocol, all teachers and children return to their classrooms, lock the classroom door from the inside, draw the blinds, turn off the lights and huddle in a corner until the “all-clear” is given.

“We received notification from RPD at 1:56 p.m. giving us the “all-clear” to lift the lockdown.

“While today’s situation was thankfully uneventful, it was a good reminder of why we practice lockout/lockdown standard safety protocols from the I Love U Guys Foundation to keep our students and staff safe,” Hesse’s note concluded.