[UPDATE 1:28 p.m.: Students to Be Released from Cleared Buildings] Fortuna Union High on Lockdown as Law Enforcement Respond Code 3
We are receiving reports that Fortuna Union High School is on lockdown. Social media posts from parents indicate that threats have been made regarding a bomb threat at 12:10 p.m. those claims have not been verified.
Scanner traffic indicates that law enforcement officers are on scene at the Fortuna campus, additional officers are responding code 3 to the campus.
A law enforcement dispatcher said, “There [are] 30 kids running around from the Ag building one is armed with an ax.” The juveniles were said to be exiting a gate near 15th street that is usually locked.
Those juveniles have been reported to have spotted near Hunans, now near Rohnert Park.
This is a breaking story and we will update as information becomes available.
Please remember that this story is unfolding. Information is being reported as we gather it. However, some of the information coming from witnesses and initial official reports could be wrong. We will do our best to get the facts but, in the case that something is inaccurate, we will update with correct information as soon as we can.
Update 12:35 p.m.: Multiple Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office vehicles have been spotted headed south on Highway 101 with lights and sirens on.
A parent shared this text message exchange with us between her and her daughter who is a student at Fortuna Union High:
Law enforcement officers are searching for the group of juveniles that were seen leaving the high school campus. The juvenile reported to have an ax is described as wearing a yellow sweatshirt and baggy jeans last seen walking on Fortuna Boulevard.
Scanner traffic indicates that parents are lining up outside the school attempting to locate their children. Meanwhile, officers at the scene are searching and clearing buildings on campus, one by one.
Update 12:51 p.m.:
Traffic on 12th Street in Fortuna as law enforcement officers and parents converge on Fortuna Union High
Traffic is congested on 12th street in Fortuna, the main access point for Fortuna Union High, along with areas of Fortuna Boulevard where it intersects with 12th Street. Please avoid the area if possible.
Scanner traffic indicates that law enforcement agencies are trying to collaborate on how best to escort the students off campus.
UPDATE 1:28 p.m.: According to the Fortuna High School District website, “We are preparing to release students. Once your students building is cleared by law enforcement they will be released to go. Parents can come pick students on 12th but please remain in your cars. Busses will also be dropping students off on the regular route.” They report that earlier “Fortuna High School received a threat, police are on site searching. The school is in an active lock down, please refrain from coming to the school. Updates to follow.”
Update 8:07 p.m.: Firearms Located and13-Year-Old Juvenile in Custody After Allegedly Making Threats that Initiated Fortuna Union High School Lockdown
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3 cruisers passed passed me at 12/ main lites and sirens.
Hope it’s a hoax. Crazy times
The kids that were running from the Ag Building were told to do so by their teacher.
axes optional
Not funny old guy.
I second that, Tina.
Ax was probably ok’d to open the locked gate to make an exit for the students.
I prefer a pulaski for opening locks, if a bolt cutter is unavailable…
Give the old guy a break…
He had grabbed the ax for protection. It was taken by a teacher who was with the group of kids and handed over to the staff at Main Street Feed for safe-keeping while they sheltered here.
Perfect.
The last thing the kids should be taught is tojust sit there and do nothing, and become victims.
Grow up
Please, let everything go as smoothly as possible… I hope this isn’t the real deal.
I wonder if the schools been swatted. There’s a rash of it these days.
Why would you put where we are at it puts us in danger seeing as we ran Bc we were in an unsafe area. The kid caring the axe brought it to try and protect us if necessary.
I know you’re scared right now. Getting away from the school was your animal instinct, you are protecting yourself. I hear you. Whoever made the bomb threat most likely isn’t after you on foot. Take some deep breaths. You’re going to be ok. I doubt you’ll be in trouble… you should let the school know where you are and that you’re safe. Ask someone you trust for help.
Thank you. They know where we’re at Bc we were told to run to a buisness and we were with an adult.
The school needs to do a head count to make sure everyone is safe. Have an adult/ parent call the school to let them know you, and your firends, are safe.
Bomb threat and you”re going to protect yourself with an axe!?
Hey. Two words. Frontal lobes. They’re kids.. teenagers at that. Of course they’re not gonna make sense with their actions right now. That’s why they still require adult supervision. After the last few years these kids have seen I really wouldn’t criticise or judge them. They need guidance, genuine attention and understanding not judgment and rudeness.
can you possibly be more insulting. neither you nor they have one idea about the threat they face. and theyre doing great. theyre taking care of themselves while also not insulting people who have no idea what is going on unlike some people.
He thought of an axe Bc at first we were told it was a shooting. No one said anything about it being a bomb instead until we were gone.
Props to the kid that grabbed an axe.
Exercising his right to bear arms and thinking on his feet
Innovative, would you believe…???
Beats being empty handed.
At least the kid is gonna get his hacks in, and if he’s gonna go down, he’s gonna go down swinging…
Sounds like leader material.
Way to go, kid.
I fully agree, I’ll buy the guy a sandwich if ok’d
You did stellar , all of you. Most of us who are older only had to worry about fist fights. Glad ur safe and glad ur friend was ready to slice n dice . Lol.
Better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick…
Not to mention in the chaos they may not have known it was a bomb threat. Or maybe there’s more we don’t know
🤔🧐
It’s no big deal.
I’d be more concerned if the student was running with scissors…😁
A teacher told their students to run away from campus because of a hoax bomb threat? And they allowed a student to take an ax with them??? I hope this will be their last day as a “teacher”
Dude, when I heard a teacher was brave enough to run their kids off campus I was so happy. If there was a real live active shooter, or a real live active bomb, I would want my daughter to run far away.
Instead, her idiot teacher kept poking his head out the door not believing the alarm was real. That’s the teacher who should really be fired.
The AG teacher better not get fired, they took the threat for real, and got those students to safety. If there was a real shooter you’d be calling them a hero.
How tf do we know it was a hoax when something comes over like that we don’t fuck around
The Ag class and East High are away from the main campus, so they are TOLD to flee for safety because that gets them away from the situation. If they are in the midst of it, they are to shelter in place. They were in constant communication as to where everyone was, who was accounted for, when or if they could leave their location, which kids had been picked up by guardians and checked off as “safe”. Watching them go through this for the better part of 2 hours, I was very impressed with how they were handling a stressful and chaotic situation. FYI, there were 4 teachers with the students and they kept the kids safe and calm. They found a safe place to shelter and kept tabs on the situation while it was unfolding. They certainly don’t deserve to be fired!
You win the dumbest comment award, congrats!
The police assumed you were running to get away from some thing you were doing, not that you were running away from danger.
Which to me is an idiotic assumption by police!
Im so sorry!
You are running from danger&the people sent to supposedly protect you are potentially alerting those wanting to hurt you to your whereabouts.
May be best to let a trusted parent know where you are, theycan alert other worried parents to where you are but not on social media.
Please stay safe!
“law enforcement agencies are trying to collaborate on how best to escort the students off campus.”
Its pretty appaling theres no plan in place for these incidents, especially at fortuna high!!
Absolutely riduculous!!!
I would not send my kid to a school with no evac plan for students in this day and age.
Nor do the cops have a plan in place,between 3 different police forces??.
Wtf are we paying you for???
We need and deserve a serious look at where our tax dollars go and the return we get on those taxes!!!
You know what they say when you assume, and you proved it right. This is a story by a person whom is not on scene and gathering information from a scanner. The officers are attempting to locate a large group of students “running from the school”. Not because they know why the kids are fleeing the school, but because they are responding to a bomb threat and while responding callers are telling them about the fleeing students . The caller doesn’t know why these kids are running. The police are not making any assumption, they are attempting to l9cate them to find out what is happening. And your assumption that the “cops” don’t have a plan is just that, an assumption. Unfortunately plans are not always followed and have to have room for change. An example is the students being led from the school, running and armed with an ax probably isn’t in the original evacution plan. And the comment about ” scanner traffic indicates law enforcement are attempting to collaborate escorting the students” is from the writer and is required when you have several panicked and concerned parents crowding the school. So instead of attacking and criticizing the police for doing something that you have never faced, and without all the facts, imagine the chaos and lay your criticizing where it belongs, on the idiot that made the dangerous and stupid act of calling in the bomb threat.
Wow …
cuz he’s a beezy just trying to feel important. damn im sorry you had to go through any of this. nobody needs any of this shiznit.
Kids should text their parents and let them know if they are waiting to be picked up or on the buses to be dropped off.
It sounds confusing as to what students are where.
I’ll bet they never thought of that!
I don’t blame the kid for bringing an ax when they were running out of the school. Those poor kids were terrified and The police need to focus on the bomb threat more than just kids running out of fear for their lives and grabbing the first thing he could. Remember Fortuna police they are not the criminals do what you’re supposed to do and leave the terrified kids alone
I am curious about one thing though. Why would you have all the kids stay in the classrooms until each one is cleared from having a bomb?? Wouldnt they want all the kids to leave the campus?? I mean what if there really is/was a bomb in one of the rooms filled with kids that makes no sense
According to my kid it wasn’t a bomb. There was a gun on campus. The kid with the gun airdropped a texted saying he was gonna shoot up the school. I wish the police would release a statement so we can stop speculating.
Damn.Really?? Not that you’d joke about that. I’m so sorry Mamas. Got grandkids in elementary school, I’d be terrified. Glad you and yours are a ok.❤
If there was a bomb you’d evacuate them like you would if there was a fire- AWAY from the school. You wouldn’t barricade yourself in a classroom and wait for it to pass. Sounds like this school is in serious need of trainings- Fire training, Active Shooter training etc etc…
The world has gone completely mad. 🙁
I think it is okay that the students ran out of the school. If there really is a bomb in the school, hiding in a locked classroom will not keep anyone safe.
Did I miss the part that said there was a bomb threat? I have read “threat” – nothing about an actual bomb. Not sure how there can be much of a strict plan in place for every possible situation in a threat to a school or a student(s).
People do what they can to keep our kids safe and that doesn’t always fit into a nice, neat box. I’ve had to endure active shooter training where I work, and its terrifying. I was also told that I was not to try and subdue the attacker(s), unless …. and the unless is pretty vague. You can bet that if given the chance I’d grab whatever weapon I had at hand and keep it with me just in case I had the opportunity or needed to use it, to help someone else or help myself. These are uncertain times we live in – and not getting better any time soon I’m afraid.
Let’s support each other – not tear each other down. Kids, parents, teachers, 1st responders… all need our support.
Pretty sure that most every school shooting was unannounced. There may have been signs leading up to it but they don’t announce ahead of time what they’re going to do it because it takes the element of surprise out of their plan. When word leaks out of a threat it’s more often than not just that, a hoax to create panic. Hope that’s the case here and all are safe. What a different world is is today from when I went to school. 🙄
Seems to be accurate – sadly. The new normal is there is no normal.
It sounds like some one had an ax to grind…
Just like the black lives matter groups our government is paying these people…even kids ….but probably parents recruiting kids …to do these kinds of acts all over the country so they can take our guns!!!! Don’t fall for it!
I want to know why they took all the kids phones and checked them all and children could not call home or answer their phones and communicate at all! Searched the students twice??
Read the follow up story. A threatening message was airdropped. They were searching for evidence and didn’t want anyone to delete valuable information from their phone.
The sister in the copied text message was super smart and on point to help with these words;
“Keep your phone on silent and in your hand.”
These are things that most siblings in most other countries never need to learn.
School shootings are uniquely American.