Santa Rosa Academy declared safe after lockdown

Parents line up to pick up their students as police prepare to leave Santa Rosa Academy. (Staff photo)

By Doug Spoon, Editor

Menifee Police called the report of a suspicious person unfounded after using a large police presence to lock down and clear the campus of Santa Rosa Academy on Thursday.

Out of an abundance of caution, the school was locked down and the area around the school closed off while dozens of police and fire vehicles rushed to the area. Concerned parents parked blocks away and walked to the front of the school while officers were preparing to declare an all-clear notice.

Some other area schools were also placed on lockdown as a precaution, but police said no weapons or suspicious persons were found and there is no danger to students or the community.

Rumors spread online about an active shooter situation, but those were quickly declared false by police. The rumors appear to have stemmed from online searches for "Santa Rosa shooting", which reveals news stories about a shooting in the Northern California city of Santa Rosa.

Classes resumed about 1 p.m., but parents who came to the school were allowed to pick up their students if desired.

Robert Hennings, executive director of Santa Rosa Academy, sent out a message to families that read, in part:

"Today a suspicious person appeared on video surveillance near the Sherman gate. We could not immediately verify whether or not a person actually made it onto our campus. As a prompt precaution, our inner gates were closed to safeguard our students, using a lock-in drill procedure, and safety staff engaged in a physical check of all campus areas. Just as we were about to resume normal operations inside our inner campus, emergency response teams arrived and ordered a lockdown upon receiving what was later determined as false alarm calls.

"Once police finished their thorough search and determined the campus, students, and staff were 100 percent safe, the lockdown was ended, and we were permitted to begin the reunification process. Reunification began promptly and lasted approximately one to one and half hours. There were just a couple dozen students remaining at that point awaiting pickup.

"Aside from the false report made to the police, there was other misinformation fueling the situation from various inaccurate and false social media posts and news reports. One of which was a news circulation of an actual emergency today in the City of Santa Rosa, California, being shared around on local social media."

Later in the day, the Menifee Police Department issued the following press release, shedding further light on the situation:

"At approximately 11:30 a.m., our communications center received a call from a student at Santa Rosa Academy reporting a suspicious person on campus. A few moments later, another caller reported a possible active shooter was on campus. Officers from the Menifee Police Department quickly arrived on scene and established a presence on campus. Support personnel from several additional agencies responded to assist in a search for the subject who was reported to have been on the school campus.

"During the initial search for the subject, contact was made with school officials. Information was received the reported suspicious person was only observed through the schools’ video surveillance system. Upon their initial surveillance observation, school officials placed the school on a “Lock-In” status while they reviewed their video to determine if there was in fact a suspicious person on campus. School officials did not request police services as they had not yet determined a threat existed.

"Officers and school officials reviewed the video surveillance for the school day, and the original video of the suspicious person could not be located. Contact was made with the student who called police and they admitted they did not see a suspicious subject. The student became fearful when campus security began sending students back to their classrooms, so they contacted the police. It is unknown at this time why the second caller reported an active shooter on campus.

"The campus remained in lockdown status while officers conducted a room-to-room search to confirm the safety of the students and staff.

"Once the campus was deemed safe, officers and school officials implemented their reunification protocol to reunite parents with their children. Through interviews with school staff and students at Santa Rosa Academy, the report of a suspicious person on campus or any active shooter activity was deemed to be unfounded.

"Upon deeming Santa Rosa Academy safe, our communications center received a call from an individual at Paloma Valley High School indicating the “suspicious” person who was reported to be on campus at Santa Rosa Academy was now on campus at Paloma Valley High School with a knife. At the same time, we had a School Resource Officer (SRO) on campus who was monitoring the front of the school due to the activity at Santa Rosa Academy. The SRO had not seen or heard anything suspicious.

"Out of an abundance of caution, the school was placed on lockdown and officers responded to search the campus to ensure the safety of students and staff. Officers did not locate any suspicious person(s) on the Paloma Valley High School campus. Once the campus was deemed safe, the lockdown was lifted."