GRANTS, N.M. — Grants Police Department says it was not notified about a possible shooting threat at Los Alamitos Middle School on Friday, Oct. 24, despite parents receiving alerts from the school about safety screenings conducted that morning.
A press release published by GPD on Facebook at 11:31 a.m. that day states neither the police nor Cibola Regional Communications Center received any call from Grants Cibola County Schools before administrators passed students through metal detectors and searched backpacks. Police said they only learned of the situation through the district’s mass notification system.
According to the GPD statement, officers immediately contacted the district’s security team, and were told the school handled the situation internally without consulting law enforcement, as the information received was unverified.
In response to an in- quiry from the Citizen, Superintendent Lane Widner provided a detailed written explanation. Widner said Los Alamitos administrators were alerted around 7 a.m. that some students were hesitant to come to school because of “rumors and student talk” about a possible safety concern. District staff initiated a threat assessment under established GCCS safety procedures. Metal detectors and bag checks began “out of an abundance of caution,” and district security later assisted.
Widner said the concern did not meet the threshold of a verified threat under the district matrix and “no credible or direct threat” was found. He said GPD was notified later that morning after the review was completed and parents had been informed.
“All safety protocols were followed and students remained safe throughout the day,” Widner wrote.
GCCS does not operate its own police force. Instead, the district employs a trained security response team led by former School Resource Officer Jeremy Hocker, and partners with multiple agencies including GPD, Milan PD, the Cibola County Sheriff’s Office, New Mexico State Police, and tribal law enforcement.
Widner told the Citizen the district plans to strengthen training, expand certification opportunities, and pursue the return of School Resource Officers to campuses.
GPD said it continues to work with GCCS to ensure law enforcement is notified whenever threats or violence may impact schools. The department encouraged anyone aware of potential danger to contact police directly by calling 911 for emergencies or 505-287-4404 for nonemergencies.
The Citizen will continue reporting on this matter as additional information becomes available.
The text received by some parents from LAMS read:
“This morning students at Los Alamitos middle school were passed through metal detectors by administrators and backpacks were searched due to a text message about a potential shooting at school we believe that this was in the best interest of our students and staff safety due to recent events in our community”