Unrelated events prompt lockdown

Students in the Red Wing School District remain safe despite threats received earlier this week, Supt. Karsten Anderson said.

All schools in the district were on lockdown Wednesday after a Tower View Alternative Learning Center student reported receiving a threatening call that alluded to a potential shooting at the school.

The Tower View senior told the Red Wing Police Department at about 3 p.m. Tuesday that she received a call on her home phone from an unidentified person who told her, “Your school is next.” The call came just four days after a gunman shot and killed 26 people, including 20 children, at an elementary school in Connecticut.

Further raising concerns within the Red Wing School District, a report was made at about 8:30 a.m. Wednesday by First Student Bus Co. stating that a student found bullets on one of the buses.

As a result of both situations, Anderson initiated a districtwide external lockdown for the entire day, meaning external access to the schools was monitored and controlled.

“I made the decision after I met with high school officials as well as our school liaison officer,” Anderson explained. “Unless there’s something really specific with a particular site, I think any kind of threats like that we ought to consider them to be threats against the entire district instead of just one school site.”

Shortly after the lockdown began, a student came forward and said the .22-caliber rounds were his and he had forgotten they were still in his jacket after a weekend of coyote hunting.

“It’s unrelated. Completely innocent,” Red Wing Police Chief Roger Pohlman said.

Classes at all of the schools proceeded as regularly scheduled, and students were let out at their usual times at the end of the day.

To keep parents aware of the events playing out, the district sent out multiple emails Wednesday. Anderson said he heard from some people who said they would have preferred phone calls earlier in the process.

“The one area where we could improve upon is just communication with parents,” Anderson said.

Still, the superintendent added, many people were pleased with the way the situation was handled overall.

“Everyone that I’ve talked to is grateful that we took the precautionary steps,” he noted.

The district is working on implementing some extra precautions for the future, and an administrative team is making changes to the safety and security measures among the schools.

Meanwhile, the police department is continuing its efforts to find out who made the threatening phone call. A subpoena was obtained to look over the phone records of the Tower View student who received the call, but Pohlman said the records didn’t provide any additional information.

“Basically the investigation is still open; however, we have no further leads at this time,” the chief explained.

As the Red Wing police continue their investigation, they are asking anyone with information to contact them at 651-267-2600.

Tags: red wing, crime and courts, education, news