Redmond School District ‘proud’ of staff for handling of lockdown situation

(Update: Adding video, comments from Redmond School District, parent)

REDMOND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- More counselors were on hand Friday at Ridgeview High School to help any students who wanted to talk about Thursday's frightening lockdown.

Students were locked in classrooms for 98 minutes after a report a student might have a gun on campus.

No gun was found and no arrests made.

Sheila Miller, the public information officer for the Redmond School District,  said the administration team at Ridgeview will debrief, then the district administrators will debrief, going over what procedures went well during the lockdown, and what could have gone better.

“If kids need to talk about it, that’s completely normal, and we want them to feel comfortable sharing,” Miller said. 

Miller also said she understands the frustration some parents had after finding out about the lockdown through student texts or social media.

“We’re never going to be faster than social media, and we’re never going to be faster than students texting,” Miller said. 

Miller cited the list of district priorities in a situation like this.

“But our No. 1 priority has to be student and staff safety, getting that building secure and keeping our kids safe,” Miller said. “And so that’s the No. 1 priority. Once we know that is the case, then we will communicate with families.”

Parent Michael Forester was inside Ridgeview Thursday afternoon to pick up his daughter for an early dismissal, and got caught in the lockdown.

“I don’t know, maybe they could have done something to get the call out sooner, but it seemed like everybody was pretty busy,” Forester said. 

He said he thinks everything was handled calmly and professionally.

“I had seen people saying that there were gunshots, and there was a bomb threat," Forester said. "But I was there 10 minutes before I even walked into the building, and there were no gunshots, so I’m not sure where that was coming from.”

Forester's daughter told him that a student overheard another student say he had a gun.

Miller said a similar report is what prompted the lockdown.

“It was a report from somebody who thought they had overheard something,” Miller said. “And so I’m really proud of our staff for taking that seriously."

NewsChannel 21 asked Miller if anyone was arrested Thursday.

“No, no students were arrested,” Miller said. “There were students who were removed from classrooms, so that police could ask them some questions to try and get more information. But we did not have any students who were arrested or detained.”