A Scare at Grants High and a Threat at Los Alamitos Worries Community
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Grants Police Department and the Cibola County Sheriff’s Office responded to two threats against schools in Grants, New Mexico. After a security sweep to ensure safety of the students, both schools were declared safe and no legitimate threat was found. Diego Lopez - CC
GRANTS, N.M. – Grants High School and Los Alamitos Middle School in Grants, New Mexico have both been on lockdown over the past week due to scares at both schools. On September 23, GHS was evacuated after central office staff thought they heard a gunshot. Days later, on September 26, Los Alamitos was placed on lockdown after a threatening message was found in a girl’s bathroom. Both situations turned out to be nothing more than a scare.
September 26
Just before school began on September 23, a transformer near Grants High School blew out. The sound generated from the transformer’s outage sent a loud boom through the Pirate campus, prompting members of the Grants-Cibola County School District’s Central Office building, located just behind the high school, to contact 911. After about an hour, GCCS found that the threat was not credible. Despite this, Grants High School’s work day was cancelled for students.
Cibola County Sheriff Tony Mace said that the school district was looking out for the safety of its students, and he thanked his deputies in the Cibola County Sheriff’s Office and the Grants Police Department officers for their
quick response.
“The lieutenant called out for more staff as a precaution, bringing more resources to the school just in case,” Sheriff Mace said, explaining that additional deputies were called up to help secure the school. “We train for stuff like this, and it paid off. People can get a little jumpy, especially in today’s day and age. You can’t be too careful.”
To prevent further panic, Grants High School did not open for the day. Because the panic occurred early in the morning, class had not yet begun and not all students were present. Those in the high school were held under the security and supervision of law enforcement personnel, and were allowed to return home once the all-clear was given.
“Personally,” Lane Widner, Principal of Grants High School said in a statement, “I want to thank all GHS families, students, faculty, and GCCS leadership for your patience, calmness, and respect today as we dealt with a full school evacuation. Our Pirates were classy, our parents were supportive and everyone was safe! Thank you for being a part of our GHS family!”
September 26
Just days after the high school incident, a threat was found in a girl’s bathroom at Los Alamitos Middle School alleging a shooting would occur at the school. Police determined that the no threat existed at the school, and the educational day did not suffer any further disruptions.
Upon discovery of the threat, LAMS was place on lockdown. Grants Police Department responded to the threat, after a sweep of the school they determined that the threat was unsubstantiated and the school returned to normal business.
Preparing for Disaster
The issues this past week underscore a national anxiety about school safety. Sheriff Mace said that law enforcement train for dangerous situations and are prepared in the event of a disaster at the schools. “We take everything into consideration. We’re prepared for it all, our training focuses on the idea that, ‘it’s not a matter of if it’s going to happen, it’s a matter of when. School safety is a common theme among the law enforcement agencies in Cibola County, Milan Police Department and Grants Police Department make extra effort to patrol around schools in their jurisdictions. Cibola County Sheriff’s Office patrols around each of the schools in greater Cibola and is prepared to step in to protect the community.