I just got back to office after spending my morning at Eden Prairie High School. Here’s the official news release explaining an incident that occurred at the high school today:
“This morning at approximately 7:55 a.m., Eden Prairie High School began a lock-down. Police were called when reports of a person carrying a gun was seen in the building. All students and staff were immediately put into secure locations for their safety.
At approximately 9:15 a.m., police took into custody a person whom they believe was the person carrying the gun. Police are continuing to search for the possible weapon. Eden Prairie High School has been canceled for the remainder of the day. Students will be sent home via school buses by 10:30 a.m. today. For safety reasons, students will not be allowed to return to lockers to retrieve any personal belongings. If students have car keys with them, they may take their vehicles. An announcement will be made on the District’s website when students will be allowed back into the High School to pick up their vehicles and personal belongings. Please continue to check the website for information regarding after-school activities.
I must commend the quick action of our Police Department today. Their response was critical in successfully to resolving this situation. I will also commend the response by the School District. They implemented their emergency response plan and everything went according to the plan. The end result of the City and School District working cooperatively on this incident was that no one was injured in today’s incident.
You will no doubt be hearing and seeing more information about this incident over the next several days. The City and School District will host a 3:00 p.m. joint press conference today in City Center. Until then, that�ƒ‚’s all on this issue for now.”
Our communications coordinator for this incident was Stephanie Grant. That’s her in the photo below. She’s on the far right with the blonde hair and black top. She did a very good job in communicating with the school district’s communications staff and the large group of media that were assembled for the event.
This is a shot of the media and parents waiting anxiously to find out the details of today’s incident. At this point, they know that the alleged perpetrators are in police custody, but not much more than that. So, there’s a fair amount of anxiety in the air.
When the District and Police staff determined that it was appropriate to release the students from the lock down situation, they directed them all to the EPHS football stadium to give them more instructions. This is a shot of the entire EPHS student body in the home bleachers of the stadium.
This incident could have ended tragically today, if not for the quick action of the Police and the cooperation of the School District. It’s not a good thing that happened today, but it was handled competently and safely, and sometimes that’s all you can ask for.
