Around 8 on a chilly fall morning, Fossil Ridge High School went into a lockout situation. Lockouts are where all entrances of the school are locked, and students are warned not to leave or let anyone into the school. The announcement was made to the Sabercat students during their first period of the day. In Mr. Huckabee’s senior government class, students asked if it was a drill, a common practice often held by the school. To such question, Huckabee did not have the answer. During Cranor’s first period college algebra class, the students paused, not knowing what to do for a minute. According to a student in the class, Cranor checked if the door was locked as a reaction to the announcement.

A few minutes later Fossil’s principal Mr.Allen came over the loud speaker, once again announcing the situation and telling the student body that the lockout was not a drill but to return to business as usual. After a few more minutes, the principal was on the intercom system telling students the lockout was over and the threat was nothing but a false alarm. Following his final announcement however, there was one question unanimously uniting the student body, “what happened?”

Later in the day, Mr. Allen sent an email to parents and staff explaining the situation. “This morning, a community member called 911 to report suspicious activity to the southwest of our school. As a precaution we announced a Lock Out for the school…The Fort Collins Police investigated the report and determined that it was only two individuals practicing their martial arts.” He then goes on to express the opinion, “Their choice of practice location was less than optimal.”

The rest of the day continued without fault, captured by Allen in the statement, “Everyone is safe and the routines are normal for the remainder of the day.”