East Ridge High School in Woodbury was placed on a temporary lockdown Wednesday morning due to reports that a student brought a weapon to school.
“Bringing a weapon to school is never allowed and always has consequences,” the school wrote in a message to parents and guardians. “We will follow our standard procedures as outlined in the Student Rights and Responsibilities Handbook.”
Mid-morning, the school administration received a report that a student may possibly had a weapon in a backpack. According to the school, a safety protocol was followed and the school was placed on a 10-minute lockdown hold, “to locate the student(s) involved, conduct interviews and review school video footage.”
Parents and guardians were initially notified of the situation at 11:30 a.m., and no students or staff were harmed.
The school then placed an additional hold to further investigate the situation. Woodbury police and Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents with firearm detection dogs arrived to investigate the scene and the student involved was removed from the building, according to South Washington County Schools.
“SoWashCo Schools uses the Standard Safety Response Protocol, which is based on five actions for safety,” the school wrote in the message to parents and guardians. “Students and staff are trained on these procedures and practice drills throughout the school year.”
When the initial report was made, the school resource officer responded immediately and confiscated a knife from the student’s backpack, the school stated.
“In order to be as thorough as possible that a weapon was not present in our school today, (…) a canine search was conducted in every space of our school in question, and there was no evidence of firearms being present on our campus,” the school stated in their message to parents and guardians at 1 p.m.
According to East Ridge High School, no threats were made and no one was injured.
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“This incident caused a significant disruption to our school day and we are grateful for the cooperation of our students, staff and families,” the school stated. “We are also thankful for our partnership with the Woodbury Police Department for their immediate action to support our school today with resources to assist in our investigation.”
A message to parents and guardians stated that students may experience anxiety and fear due to the incident and were encouraged to reach out to the school’s support staff or report safety concerns through the school’s Tip Portal.
“Additionally, as family members, never hesitate to reach out to us with any concerns you see or hear in the school or community,” the message stated.
The message also stated that students are often aware of situations before adults and that adults should discuss with them the importance of promptly reporting any safety concerns to a trusted adult at school.
“The safety and well-being of our students and staff is our primary concern. But it takes all of us, working together, to ensure safety in our schools and our community,” East Ridge Principal James Smokrovich stated in a message to parents and guardians.
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