Four Redmond-area schools placed in ‘secure’ status due to parent tip of possible threat; police detain suspect

Classes continued, but exterior doors stayed locked; police determine 'no direct threat to any students'

REDMOND, Ore. (KTVZ) – Four Redmond-area schools went into “secure” status for over 90 minutes as a precaution Monday morning after police got a tip from a concerned parent about a possible threat, school officials said.

Here’s the full news release from the Redmond School District about the security move, which began around 9 a.m. and lasted for an hour and 40 minutes. NewsChannel 21 has reached out to Redmond Police for more details about the incident:

Four schools from the Redmond School District went into Secure (status) this morning after the Redmond Police Department received a tip from a concerned parent that there was a possible threat. 

School Resource Officer Nathan Rankin was on campus at Redmond High School when the first Secure went into place. The Redmond Police Department moved quickly to assess the situation and determined there was not a direct threat to any students, which is why a Secure was chosen as a level of security.

In a Secure, classes are still continuing, the exterior doors are locked, and students stay in the building. Three more schools went into Secure as a precaution, although there was not a threat to them directly. The Standard Response Protocol that is used at RSD is from the “I Love You Guys Foundation.”

Going into Secure status allows our schools to create an environment that is safe from potential outside threats while students’ learning continues. We need to be overly cautious with student safety, said RSD superintendent, Dr. Charan Cline.

The police department continued to update the school district as they attempted to locate a suspect who was outside of any school campuses. 

“While the situation was unfolding, our students were safe, which is the most important aspect of this morning,” said Dr. Cline.

The school district sent this message out to parents and students of the district after the event was resolved:

“At approximately 9 a.m. Redmond High School went into Secure after the Redmond Police Department received a tip from a concerned parent about a possible threat. Terrebonne Elementary, Tom McCall Elementary, and Elton Gregory Middle School also went into Secure as a precaution. Secure means all exterior doors are locked, students do not leave the building, but classes are continuing.

"Redmond police have located and detained the suspect. The police have determined there is not a threat to any students at this time and all Secures have been lifted. The Redmond School District appreciates the swift and thorough response of the Redmond PD and supporting agencies that keep our students, staff, and community safe.” 

This morning was a great example of how the relationship between the school district and the Redmond PD is crucial to our daily operations. We are very fortunate to have such dedicated team members from the department in our schools, and we can’t thank them enough for their service to our community.

We know that messages like this can be scary, but the intent is to provide communication about the processes that we are using to keep their students safe. In the event of a direct threat, parents would be notified as soon as possible and with frequent updates through the same messaging system. If a parent of RSD did not receive a notification today, we encourage them to update their information in ParentVue. 

The district is also thankful for the parent who called in the tip. Our community is our greatest resource for school safety. The district does not have any specific information about the suspect who was detained at this time. For more information about the Standard Response Protocol used at RSD, visit https://iloveuguys.org/.