By Kylee Johnson
Usually at around 8:20 a.m. on Fridays, students are sitting in classrooms taking quizzes, learning something new, or they’re still waking up. But this Friday was a little bit different; they learned about the new emergency procedures firsthand.
Lincoln High Resource Officer Chassidy Jackson was in line-up when she received critical information that would put Lincoln High into Lockout.
“There was a lockout this morning in regards to a domestic assault disturbance that went on a couple blocks away,” Jackson said. “We had gotten information that the person responsible had a gun on him and was running through the neighborhood after he was in the assault with his significant other.”
Lincoln Police then set-up the perimeter around the neighborhood.
Inside the building, LHS staff implemented the new security procedures which involves announcing a “lockout.”
“When we get anything involving someone that may have a weapon on them in the neighborhood, anywhere close to the school, we go into lockout,” Jackson said. “At that point, we only let staff and students in, and we make sure that administrators and everyone [staff] knows who we are looking for so that they don’t try to come into school saying that they’re a visitor. We want to make sure the threat is outside of the school.”
Lockout means the threat is outside of the building and that the teaching and regular school can still go on safely within the building.
The suspect was taken into custody within the 10 minutes of the school lockout.
“I’m glad it worked out the way it did because it’s a big school and people have walked in before that aren’t supposed to be here,” Jackson said.
The administration thanked everyone via email and School Messenger for their cooperation and encouraged teachers to use this as a teaching moment to help students better understand the new safety procedures.
