Around noon yesterday, Inweekly began to receive phones calls and texts from parents concerned about lockdowns at Booker T. Washington High School and Workman Middle School. We called Officer Mike Wood, public information officer of the Pensacola Police Department, who confirmed the lockdowns, which also include nearby Holm Elementary. Officer Wood said the students were safe and the School District would be issuing a statement.
About 1 p.m. the principals sent out automated phone messages to parents that offered no details:
“Hello, this is Traci Ursrey, principal of Workman Middle School. Please be aware that this morning a situation at our school required assistance by law enforcement and district personnel. Please know that our school and law enforcement personnel handled the situation quickly and safely. Please be assured we consider the safety and welfare of our students and staff our first priority. If you have any questions, please call us at 494-5665. Thank you.”
Parents could find no information about the lockdowns on the School District’s website. The only email from School District that was sent to the media was a press release: “Artel Gallery’s 2018 Mask Show Opens Winners’ Reception Feb. 22nd.”
At 4 p.m., parents began to get reports from their middle school and high school students about happened. The statements were not accurate, but it’s what they saw and heard. As we learned last year with the gun found on the Washington High campus, rumors multiple in an information vacuum.
A Workman seventh-grader said he was in the cafeteria with the principal came on the intercom and shouted, “Code Red! Code Red!” The teachers shouted for the students to under the tables. Several of the kids began to sob. Others texted their parents begging to be picked up. Apparently parents were allowed on the campus, and the student said he could see parents outside of the cafeteria trying to get school staff let them have their children. The students were on under the tables for 30-45 minutes.
The rumor was a new student had taken pictures of a bunch of guns on his bed and put the photos on social media. The kids were told the student didn’t show up for school. Another rumor was a high school student was arrested with a handgun on campus.
Inweekly made a public request of PPD for the incident reports but were told the investigation had not been completed. At 3:15 pm. we received the following CAD reports:
18cad013544
18cad013543
18cad013495
After 5 p.m. the media received a press release from PPD.
The Pensacola Police Department were in the process of making three arrests for three separate incidents.
The first incident involved a threat via social media against Washington High School, Workman Middle School and Pensacola State College causing three schools to go on lockdown. The suspect was identified and was not on campus. He was located and will be charged with False Report Concerning the Use of Firearms in a Violent Manner and Disruption of a School Function.
The second incident involved a social media threat against Pensacola High School causing another lockdown. The suspect was identified and was not a student at the school and was not on campus. He was located and will be charged with False Report Concerning the Use of Firearms in a Violent Manner and Disruption of a School Function.
The third incident involved a student at Washington High School after he indicated to another student he was in possession of a firearm. The school went into lockdown again. The student was identified, and it was learned he never had a weapon at school. This student was charged with Disruption of School Function.
The names of the arrestees were not available at the time of this release because the arrests were still being processed.
As of 8 a.m. today, the School District website still has no information about the lockdowns. The Washington and Workman websites also have no details of what happened.
However, there is a link to the Escambia County School District Parent Satisfaction Survey. Will how the district handled yesterday’s incidents impact the survey results?