A report of a man with a gun near Fairview High School in south Boulder on Thursday prompted lockdowns at two schools and a shelter-in-place order for the neighborhood before police determined there was no threat.
Police responded to a caller who said a man was carrying a gun near Fairview. When police identified a man as the subject of the call, they learned he was actually finishing up a run while wearing a weighted vest, and was holding his cell phone in his hand — not a gun. The Boulder Police Department said the runner holding his phone in his hand “likely contributed to what the person who called in the possible threat saw,” in .
The report was the second on Thursday in Colorado to be deemed not credible, the day after a 16-year-old student shot two of his fellow students before fatally shooting himself at Evergreen High School in the Jefferson County foothills.
BPD spokesperson Dionne Waugh confirmed at 10:44 a.m. that the department was investigating the call.
Starting at 10:49 a.m., and over the next 2½ hours, Fairview and the Southern Hills Middle School would go on lockdown, according to . Fairview’s students were sent home at 1:16 p.m., according to a statement by BVSD spokesperson Randy Barber.
Four other schools were placed on secure status. A half-mile radius around the school was ordered to shelter in place for an hour and a half. . Drones were flown over the area, and police searched for the man who supposedly had a gun, while other officers searched the schools — .
Earlier on Thursday, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office said it received multiple tips and a photo suggesting one of its schools was being threatened, according to .
The threat was deemed not credible and actually referred to a school in a different district, the post states.
The runner outside of Fairview, after being interviewed by police sergeants, that Wednesday’s Evergreen school shooting likely led to the call that reported him to be carrying a gun.
“We always encourage anyone who thinks they see something suspicious to call us,” BPD wrote, closing its final update. “We understand the community fear today and are thankful this did not turn out to be anyone with any ill intent.”
Fairview’s classes and after-school activities were canceled for the rest of Thursday. Southern Hills students could choose to go home or finish their day, according to a BVSD statement.
Students at the four schools on secure status — Summit Middle School, Bear Creek Elementary School, Mesa Elementary School and Community Montessori — continued on, finishing their classes for the day.
