San Luis classes resume after being locked down

Though some of them had only recently completed their training, faculty at San Luis High School acted expertly during a lockdown after an alleged weapons sighting at the school, said the district superintendent.

Yuma Union High School District Superintendent Toni Badone praised the work high school staff did Wednesday morning, which included ushering students to class, taking attendance, turning lights off and facilitating backpack checks.

"It was the second day of school, the beginning of the day," she said, "and the police department said they were impressed with the speed with which we were able to get kids back to class."

The lockdown method, which has been a part of the district's crisis management planning since the mid-1990s, is a precautionary method used to maintain the safety of students and aid emergency service efforts as well as police investigations, said Badone.

She said that lockdowns can be initiated for a number of reasons, including natural disasters and other outside threats to student safety.

Wednesday's lockdown occurred one day after the start of the new school year and was the first in YUHSD since a previous lockdown at Kofa High last spring.

Classes resumed at San Luis High School shortly after 10 a.m. Wednesday after a search failed to turn up a rifle that a teacher and student reported seeing on campus.

Initially, San Luis Middle School and an Arizona Western College campus were locked down because of their proximity to the high school. Eventually all schools in San Luis in Gadsden School District were placed on lockdown as police searched the high school campus and cars in the parking lot.

A teacher and a student said they saw a rifle on the ground near one of the entrances to the high school, police said. There were no reports of gunshots or injuries.

About 2,100 students who were already on campus were restricted to their classrooms when the lockdown went into effect shortly after 8 a.m., police said. Meanwhile, officers cordoned off streets to the school, keeping away students who had not yet arrived.

Fourteen police officers took part in the campus search but did not find a weapon, said Police Capt. Javier Nuño.

Nuño speculated that someone picked up the weapon after it was seen by the teacher and student, but said police didn't know if it was removed from campus before the lockdown took effect.

Police are asking anyone with information about the incident to call the department at 341-2433.

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Erin Orozco can be reached eorozco@yumasun.com or 539-6849. Cesar Neyoy is a staff writer for Bajo El Sol, The Sun's Spanish-language sister publication.