Police initiate lockdown at Cedar Middle School

In this file photo, a Cedar City Police car is parked in front of Cedar Middle School during a scheduled "active shooter" lockdown drill and training exercise, Cedar City, Utah, Feb. 14, 2018 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News/Cedar City News

CEDAR CITY — A brief lockdown was initiated at Cedar Middle School Thursday morning after a call to police reported a suspicious person near the school.

The lockdown was initiated at 10:47 a.m. at the request of the school’s resource officer. The low-level lockdown allowed students and teachers to continue their regular class schedule, but no one was allowed in or out of the school.

Someone reported a kid possibly carrying a weapon in a nearby neighborhood,” Cedar City Police Sgt. Jerry Womack said.

Police spoke with the person who made the initial call, Womack said, and it was determined the caller “may have overreacted.”

“Once they (police) investigated they found nothing of concern and called to tell us we were all clear to lift the lock down,” Cedar Middle Principal Bylynda Murray wrote in an email sent to parents.

The lockdown was lifted at 11:15 a.m.

During the course of the lockdown, parents were sent text messages alerting them of the situation.

In a subsequent email, parents were reminded to allow law enforcement to respond and not to attempt to pick up their children during lockdown situations.

“While it is unsettling to think about emergencies happening to our children, frequent review, practice, and education of emergency procedures at home and at school, will help everyone to be prepared,” Murray said in the email.

While today’s lock down was not a drill it was a great training experience for all of us.”

Read more: Active shooter drills prepare school staff, police for the unthinkable

Parents of Cedar Middle School students not already signed up for the automated messaging system may do so by texting @cedar to 207-358-3612.

Cedar City News reporter Jeff Richards contributed to this report.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @STGnews

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2018, all rights reserved.

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