A note found on a printer in the Red Oak High School media center forced officials to lockdown the school for a little more than three-hours, Monday. Superintendent Terry Schmidt told the Daily NonPareil a staff member found a note that threatened violence in the school, at around 9-a.m. The message indicated the person was upset and might injure themselves or others in the school by using a weapon.
Red Oak administrators contacted the Red Oak Police Department for assistance after determining the note was credible, and the school went into lockdown around from around 9:45 a.m. until a little before 1 p.m. During the lockdown, no one was allowed into or out of the school, as police and school staff searched lockers, backpacks and elsewhere for evidence of a weapon or of the note’s author. Staff were able to determine who had logged in to the school’s wireless server before the note was found.
After numerous interviews with students and other adults in the building – staff members and others at the school for a variety of reasons – authorities determined the school was safe. As a precaution, Red Oak Police officers stayed at the school the rest of the day, but there were no further incidents reported. The last time a string of incidents threatening violence at the school occurred a few years, school officials threatened to hold school on Saturday. That put an end to the threats.
An investigation into Monday’s incident continues,meanwhile, and school officials said they were confident the culprit will be caught and brought to justice.