BY LEANN DILBECK –
The administration of Cossatot River High School issued a ‘code blue’ Friday afternoon at approximately 2 p.m. putting the entire campus in full lock-down mode after learning of a possible shooting in Cove. The action triggered Cossatot’s automatic notification system to issue alerts to parents of the lock-down and to not come to the campus, causing wide-spread panic and confusion.
Officials from the Polk County Sheriff’s Department confirmed that the shooting was actually a suicide in Hatfield. Someone hearing of a “possible shooting” from the scanner then posted it to Facebook and the snowball of misinformation ensued, ultimately leading to a school-wide lock-down.
Standard protocol states that schools are required to go into lock-down when there has been a shooting reported within a certain radius of the campus. Officials from the Sheriff’s Department said the school’s principal was operating under the misinformation that the shooting was in Cove.
Students were later dismissed in normal routine without any incident.
About Author
Jeri Pearson
Jeri is the News Director for Pulse Multi-Media and Editor of The Polk County Pulse. She has 10 years of experience in community focused journalism and has won multiple press association awards.
It would seem that the “standard protocol” needs to include verifying the shooting report before going into full Chicken Little mode.