by Faith Howard, student at Raton High School
On September 17th, 2024, I found myself amid my first real lockdown. School shooting discussions are frequent, yet I had never considered the possibility of such a terrifying event happening at my school. I was sitting in the library, waiting for lunch, when I heard the announcement that the school had gone into a shelter-in-place. We have these occasionally for numerous different reasons, so I initially assumed it was nothing serious.
As I waited, I began to notice how frantic the people in the halls were; students were being told to get into their classrooms with such urgency I had never seen before. Shortly after, a new announcement was made stating that if fire alarms were pulled, no students would leave and that we were in lockdown. Upon hearing this, I and the other students in the library ran to the nearest closet. Inside, there were about ten of us, and none of us knew what was happening. A few people were crying, while others were trying to make the best of the situation. I was still confused, and unsettled. Though I didn’t feel physically unsafe, I was becoming incredibly claustrophobic and stressed.
As time passed, rumors started to form. There was an image of a Snapchat story, which allegedly outlined the perpetrator’s plan. It was said that the school was going to be shot up during lunchtime and that if that failed, the fire alarms would be pulled to lure students out. It was even said that there was an 8th grader with a bag of drugs as a distraction. Hearing such alarming rumors while being confined to a closet was overwhelming. If I wasn’t scared before, how could I not be now?
This went on for around four hours, each second feeling like an eternity. The uncertainty was exhausting, and all we had were baseless rumors to go off of. When lockers were being checked, it sounded like gunshots, which increased anxiety among students. When we were finally released, it was about an hour after regular dismissal. Students were sent to the gym as groups and were to be picked up only after parents provided identification. Many parents were shocked, scared, and angry that something like this happened. A common complaint was the lack of communication during this time.
In the end, fortunately, no one had gotten hurt, no one had weapons on them, and no one was arrested. This event serves as a serious reminder that school shootings are not to be taken lightly, and that they can happen to anyone. I hope that going forward, there are more precautionary measures taken so that a situation like this will not be a worry.