Gunnison High School was locked down March 10 after threatening phone call

Gunnison High School was locked down for almost an hour on Tuesday, March 10. At about 9:30 a.m., the school received a threat by phone.

The caller said he was going to do harm to the school, according to deputy chief of police Frank Rodriguez. As trained, the receptionist asked the caller to describe the school. That’s when the caller said he was outside, and he asked the receptionist if she wanted him to come in. After he said that, the school was immediately locked down. Rodriguez praised the work of the receptionist in the case. 

Gunnison Police Department and the Gunnison County Sheriff’s Office responded immediately and secured the building “inside and out,” according to the GPD. 

“We additionally secured all Gunnison school campuses (GCS and Lake School),” the department wrote in a Facebook post. “The initial investigation into the phone number used supports the use of voice over IP (VOIP), which indicates a false report. Unfortunately, this has become a common occurrence across the country.”

Technology allowed the caller to hide his true identity.

“We believe that the number was spoofed,” Rodriguez said. “The owner of that number had nothing to do with the call itself. That’s based off the initial investigation and contact with local law enforcement there.”

After establishing a safe environment, dialogue with school administrators allowed for normal activities inside the school while law enforcement maintained their presence at all Gunnison school campuses. 

When it came time for dismissal, officers had a significant presence. At the elementary school, students were walked out of school with officers and dropped off directly with parents. Officers then went to the middle school to oversee dismissal and then finally to the high school.

“We will continue to investigate it, but as of now we believe it to be a false claim based off our initial findings,” Rodriguez said, “but we will continue to dig into it.”

Rodriguez said that while the threat appeared to be a false claim, the response from everyone involved was encouraging.

‘“I couldn’t be happier with the response from our first responders, the faculty, the school, the parents and the students,” he said. “One of my biggest concerns was if you look at some recent history, parents show up to the schools and that would have created and posed a big problem for us, especially if they show up armed. They had a lot of faith and trust that the school staff, as well as law enforcement, was handling it well. I couldn’t be prouder of the school itself.”

Rodriguez said effective messaging from the school to the parents also played a role in the matter ending quietly.

Rodriguez said that while the response this week was effective, the department does plan to review its response to see what can be done to make the response even better should another such situation arise. 

All after-school activities were canceled and law enforcement continued its presence throughout the day and had an increased presence on Wednesday, March 11, too.

GPD said it would like to thank all law enforcement and school district personnel who assisted in securing the safety of the students and staff, including Gunnison County Sheriff's Office, Colorado State Patrol, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Gunnison EMS, GWSD Superintendent Dr. Leslie Nichols all school principals, faculty, staff and students.

Anyone with additional information about the case is asked to contact the Gunnison Police Department at 970-641-8200.