Lockdown at our High School

Situation: Pontiac Township High School is currently under Code Red Lockdown due to a report of weapons in the school.

Background: Most recent reports are that the premises are being searched, weapons have been recovered, students involved are being held, no injuries have occurred to either students or staff.

Assessment: As far as we know, the facility search continues, however students are secure and safe at the school, and the search is continuing in an orderly fashion.

Recommendation: As more information is announced, we will share it, as we know many of you have children at PTHS.



UPDATE:

In an effort to keep our employees informed of the latest news reports and most accurate information made available, we share the following from the police and WJEZ from just a few moments ago …

PTHS is dismissing at the present time. Buses are running their routes.

Grade schools, PJHS and St. Mary’s will remain in session until their normal dismissal time, but their buildings will remain on lockdown as a precautionary measure.

A total of six guns were recovered this morning at PTHS and three persons are in custody.

Reminder … police and other authorities will hold a news conference at 2:30 p.m. today at the police headquarters downtown.

All PTHS students will attend a special meeting in the auditorium at 8:20 a.m. tomorrow.



UPDATED UPDATE:

1.) At 8:30 a.m., a student approached the high school’s resource officer and informed him that he knew that guns were brought into the school.

2.) A Code Red was immediately called. Per the prescribed P & P, all teachers locked students into the classrooms and followed the remaining steps outlined in the policy. School officials and law enforcement were commended for their preparedness and the orderly fashion in which the Code Red procedure was followed and calmly conducted.

3.) Six handguns in a book bag were located within minutes.

4.) Three individuals are in custody. No names have been released because they are juveniles.

5.) Interviews with these and other individuals are still occurring at this hour.

6.) The makes and models of the handguns were not released, as well as whether they were loaded or their origin, pending the remainder of the investigation process.

7.) Remaining students were held in the school for approximately 3-1/2 hours before school was dismissed.

8.) Code Red procedures were practiced at the school at least twice last year, according to the superintendant.

9.) School security video will be reviewed in the coming hours and days as part of the investigation.

10.) There will be a police presence at all the city’s schools tomorrow.

11.) Tomorrow morning’s 8:20 a.m. assembly at the high school will include counselors, police officers and school officials, and will include information intended to comfort students, restore their feeling of safety and their confidence in attending school. Counseling services will be offered to all students.

12.) Charges against the three individuals are expected to be announced once all info is rec’d --- probably tomorrow.

13.) The teachers with students on the field trip in Decatur today were notified immediately of the Code Red, and returned home as originally planned.

conversations with a three year old boy

me: jude what do you want to be for halloween this year?

jude: a tow truck driver

me: what does a tow truck driver wear?

jude: a hooker


(he calls Mater's tow cable a "hooker" which cracks me up)

mythbusters

so this bridge collapse has me completely freaked out.

for some reason i have a lot of anxiety about my vehicle going into the water. my fear of this happening is fairly recent (the last couple of years or so) and it's bad enough that i have investigated those little hammer things that break the windows in a vehicle, and suggested to my husband that someone invent some inflatable thing in the roof of a car that makes it float were it ever to become submerged.

i believe that we move toward what we picture in our minds (LONG before Oprah and The big Secret told us to) so when i start to imagine what i would do if it happened, i get mad at myself when my mind suddenly puts my kids in the back seats. "NO, mind" I think to myself "stop visualizing that" and I always finish the thought with me figuring out how to release them and get us all out and safe (just in case my mind really is that powerful).

watching the bridge tragedy unfold and the aftermath was terrible but i could not change the channel. i wanted to hear that no one drowned and people really are able to get out of submerged vehicles (to ease my fears). i saw the cars on the bridge in the water and thought, "well that wouldn't be so bad, they just rode the bridge down and didn't really go in the water." then i heard about the 20 or so cars that they believed were under water and 20 to 30 missing people. stomach sinking feeling.

i was relieved to hear that estimate was high but still sad about those who did drown. i just prayed that they were unconscious or the impact killed them and they didn't struggle to get out and drown with all that fear (especially the mom and her toddler ~ i choose to believe that God took them quickly because the alternative is too much to process).

mythbusters did a show on getting out of a car submerged and it was interesting but of course my mind decided it was a "sign" that it's going to happen to me and i was supposed to watch that show so i would know what to do. i did pay attention. ultimately they said that the little hammers and the punch tools DO work to shatter glass under water but it is IMPOSSIBLE to roll down your window (manual or electric). they said you can hold your breath much longer if you calm yourself down and just sit and wait calmly for the water to completely fill the inside of your car (of course if you have children in the back seat, you should use that time to release them from car seats, etc.). hold your breath and when the car is completely filled with water the door just opens and you can swim up. the mythbuster guy freaked out the first few times and had to be "saved" but then he took a tantric breathing class and put those principles into action and was able to get out of the car with no problem.