Emergency situation leads to partial lockdown
Students eat and converse on the bleachers in the main gym.
East Grand Rapids School District was tested again with a community emergency. On Monday, Sept. 17 at 8:30 a.m. the school was placed in a partial lockdown for the majority of the day. The middle school and elementary schools were also placed on partial lockdown during this time.
After nearly one hour of the partial lockdown without any information given to students, principal Craig Weigel announced that a high school was under lockdown following a threat to a student by a family member.
During this partial lockdown, students were able to pass between their classes, but they were not allowed to exit the building. This lockdown restricted students from leaving the school for dual enrollment and KCTC classes.
Additionally, the lockdown would remain during both open campus lunch hours. “This is the first time in my fourteen years that we’ve had to do this,” Steve Wojciechowski, assistant principal, said. With the unprecedented event, it was necessary for the school to accommodate all students staying at the school for lunch.
This is the first time in my fourteen years that we’ve had to do this. — Wojciechowski
“The businesses around Gaslight were able to step up and get what they could to us in the short amount of time [that we had],” Wojciechowski said. “We had about an hour and a half so they’ve been bringing it in in bunches and it was just a really well coordinated effort by a lot of people in the front office and the businesses.”
During this stressful time, local vendors stepped up to assist the high school on such short notice. In addition to the food provided by the cafeteria, local vendors included José Babushka’s, Jimmy Johns, Blimpie, and Jets.
“This was a well coordinated effort by the people in the front office and local businesses to plan this in an hour and a half,” Wojciechowski said.
Around 1:00 p.m. EGR students were notified that the suspect at the source of the threat was apprehended by the Grand Rapids Police Department, and there was no longer a threat to EGRPS students, and the lockdown was lifted.
