At 12 p.m. yesterday, the high school’s main office received a phone call stating that there was an armed individual outside the building.
At 12:10 p.m., Principal Isaiah Wyatt announced over the PA system that the school was going into a shelter-in-place. A shelter-in-place is administered to protect people inside the school from threats outside of the building and remains in effect until the threat is relieved.
Students stayed in their classrooms, and teaching continued as normal for about 15 minutes during the shelter-in-place. Students who were taking the AP U.S. Government exam when the order was announced continued taking the exam as usual.
It was the second phoned-in threat to occur during a test administration this year. When students were taking the preACT and the ACT March 4, a bomb threat was made by phone call to the high school. The same threat was made against schools statewide that day. All those threats proved to be false.
According to an email message to staff from Wyatt, the Shaker Heights Police Department responded by blocking off the oval, checking nearby vehicles and investigating the source of the call. The SHPD also used drones to survey the area around the high school. Police officers were seen walking through the high school hallways.
Police determined there was no threat, the shelter-in-place was lifted and classes resumed their normal schedule.
Wyatt wrote that police would remain posted around the campus for the rest of the day. An officer was visible in the south gym parking lot, where staff visited an East Coast Custard truck retained by the high school PTO for teacher appreciation week.
Security and administrative staff declined to comment on the events.
