PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) — No one was hurt but three students are detained after Central High School in Phoenix was put on lockdown due to a report of a shooting on Friday afternoon. According to Phoenix Union High School District, it started just after 12 p.m. when a fight between two students led to more “disruptions” at the campus on Central Avenue between Camelback and Indian School roads. “Rumors of a firearm and even shots fired” led to the school being placed on lockdown, officials said. Police said there were “possible popping sounds nearby.”
Because of a possible gun or even shots being fired, police went through their active shooter procedures. Officers, including SWAT, searched the entire campus over the next two hours. Every part of the school was searched and police determined it was safe. Police said they found no evidence of a gun on campus or that any shots were fired. Detectives are looking into what led up to the fights and have detained three teen boys. “There was a verbal altercation that expanded to a physical altercation that was small in nature and then what I think you had to Dr. Gestson’s point, there’s just a lot of tension right now related to school shootings and then had its ability to expand and you had some panic go throughout the campus,” assistant chief Sean Patrick Connolly with the Phoenix Police Department said.
During the search, some students and staff remained locked in their classrooms and are being escorted out of the building. Once the school got the all-clear, parents and students were reunited near the school. A meeting for Central High and Phoenix Cody Acamedy families is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Saturday to discuss what happened and the future of campus safety.
Phoenix Police Sgt. Brian Bower said two people were treated at the scene for injuries not related to the shots fired call. We later learned they were a result of the heat.
Nearby Xavier, Brophy, and the Coding Academy were also placed on lockdown as a precaution, but those have been lifted. “You have students with the power of cellphones in real time communicating with family members, 911 and providing us with that information,” assistant chief Connolly said.
The Phoenix Union High School District Superintendent Dr. Chad Gestson confirmed there was no school resource officer on campus when the reports came in. He defended that decision not to have a school resource officer. “We still do have a partnership and do use officers as we need them,” he said.
Last Thursday, Sept. 1, Phoenix police said Central High School was placed on lockdown during a threat investigation. One person was detained in that case, police said at the time.
At this point police have found no evidence of a gun on campus or evidence that a shot was fired. The investigation continues as students are being released.
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