The Great Falls Police Department said in a news release that officers responded to a "potential unknown threat" at Great Falls High School on Thursday, September 5, 2024.
It happened at about 10:55 a.m. and School Resource Officers immediately placed the school in lockdown.
Other responding officers, including several in marked and unmarked patrol cars, arrived at the school and the entire campus was secured.
After performing a complete sweep of the school, SRO Sergeant Katie Cunningham determined there was no threat.
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The lockdown was lifted a short time later.
Great Falls Public Schools said in a Facebook post at 2:09 pm:
Earlier today at Great Falls High School, an alert was inadvertently sent out through our new Emergency Alert system.
GFHS staff and faculty, as we are trained to do, went into our emergency procedures and locked down.
The police and sheriff's dept are connected to the new Emergency Alert system and they responded immediately and proceeded through their protocols.
It was confirmed that the alert was sent inadvertently, and ALL IS SAFE AT GFHS.
We appreciate our students and staff who all took immediate action, as well as the first responders.
GFPS safety procedures if there is an emergency:
- Evacuation: Defined as an internal emergency that requires students and staff to leave the building for their safety. Parents should follow emergency notifications.
- Lockdown: Defined as an internal and/or immediate threat. All staff and students are locked in rooms. No one IN or OUT!
- Shelter In Place: Defined as a safety precaution for an external threat that is not an immediate or internal threat.Class Hold: Defined as a safety precaution implemented during an incident where students need to be kept in the classroom.
- Release with Care: Defined as a possible threat in the schools’ neighborhoods during arrival and release time. Release with care procedures:
- To ensure safety, the building administrator may ask staff to escort students to/from buses or waiting cars.
- Staff may also be asked to accompany students home.
Click here to visit the Safety page on the GFPS website for more information.
