Call of 'gunman' prompts lockdown
LOREN BENOIT/Press A law enforcement officer talks with a parent at the entrance to the Lake City High School parking lot on Tuesday. Officers were called to the high school to investigate a phone call regarding a threat in the parking lot. No weapons were found and no actual threat was identified.
A Coeur d'Alene Police officer talks to a concerned parent at the parking lot entrance to Lake City High School on Tuesday. Officers were called to the high school to investigate a phone call regarding a threat in the parking lot. No weapons were found and no actual threat was identified. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
Law enforcement responded to Lake City High School Tuesday morning to investigate a phone call regarding a threat in the parking lot. No weapons were found and no actual threat was identified. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
By BRIAN WALKER
Staff Writer
COEUR d'ALENE — Lake City High parent Georji Brown nervously watched responders swarm the school Tuesday morning after an anonymous caller reported a gunman in the parking lot.
She was among those who watched the search, which didn't find an actual threat, from across Ramsey Road in the Lake City Community Church parking lot.
"I came down the freeway 100 mph," she said, referring to her reaction after her son, LCHS senior Beau Brown, texted her about the full lockdown of the school.
"Anytime there's a situation like this, I want to be close by and pray over the kiddos," she said.
Scott Maben, Coeur d'Alene School District communications director, said the school received the call after 9 a.m. He said that by the time the call was transferred to the school-resource officer, the caller had hung up.
"The call was vague, didn't offer other details," Maben said. "The school immediately went into a full lockdown with all staff and students inside and the lights off."
Coeur d'Alene Police spokesman Jared Reneau said the caller sounded like a female.
"She had taken the time to deliberately ensure that an anonymous call was made," Reneau said, adding that it's unclear if the call was made locally or from long distance.
He said a person of interest had not been identified as of Tuesday afternoon.
"She contacted the school's main phone number, not the police department or 911," he said.
Maben said a thorough sweep both inside and outside the school determined there was no actual threat. The call drew response from several police, ambulance and fire units.
The school was in full lockdown for more than an hour before going into a modified lockdown that was lifted before 11 a.m. Classes then continued as normal for the rest of the day — with an added police presence.
"Also as a precaution, several other schools in the district enacted safety holds for a short time," Superintendent Steve Cook wrote in a message to parents. "During a safety hold, the building is secured and normal activities continue inside."
While some LCHS students texted photos of themselves and their classmates in light moments to their parents, letting them know they were OK during the lockdown, other messages were of greater concern.
Stacy Stephenson, whose son Wyatt Todd attends the school, also responded to the church parking lot to check out the situation. She said her son informed her that he was safe early on, but grew increasingly concerned the longer the lockdown lasted.
Brown said it's unfortunate that we live in a time when threats at schools are becoming increasingly common.
"It's not about gun violence; it's about kids being idiots," she said. "It's a generation that's missing something."
Traffic along Ramsey during the lockdown slowed as police blocked off the school grounds on one side and the media staged on the other side.
When the report came in, Chief Lee White of the Coeur d'Alene Police Department sent every available officer to Lake City High — and a couple to Coeur d'Alene High School, "just in case they named the wrong school."
He said the objective is always to "try to verify or dispel the threat as quickly as possible."
But what happens, he was asked, if anonymous threats are made frequently, or even daily? How would law enforcement respond?
"With as much stupidness as has happened in the U.S. the past few years, we always want to err on the side of caution, to be safe rather than sorry," he said. "The moment we go 'This is nothing,' then if something does happen — that's not acceptable. We don't want that on our conscience."
White said the best deterrent to false reports is catching and prosecuting the people who make them.
"It's a form of terrorizing a learning institution," he said. "That's a crime."
Maben said student safety will never be compromised if there’s a threat or perceived threat, so lockdowns or similar actions will continue.
"We will always be ready to lock down a school," he said. "That is our protocol, what we train for and work closely with police on."
Maben said that while some parents' natural tendency is to rush to the school grounds after they receive an emergency text from the district to learn what's going on, such a response can compound the situation when there is an active search underway.
"It can complicate the jobs of law enforcement," he said.
Cook added: "In the event an emergency reunification is required, we will communicate specific details with you about how and when you could reunite with your child, which likely would occur at an alternate site."
Tuesday’s incident occurred the same day as an active shooter training at LCHS. Maben said the training Tuesday evening, along with another slated for today in the district, would be held as planned. There have been multiple threats related to Coeur d'Alene schools in recent years.
Those with information about Tuesday’s incident are urged to contact the Coeur d’Alene Police at 208-769-2320.