Students were leaving their first period class, the first day after winter break, to go to brunch. Before the final bell rang, the intercom sounded with a warning not to leave the classrooms.  On Jan. 5, as a response to an online threat to the school, Carlsbad High was placed on lockdown for one hour and forty-five minutes.

“At first I didn’t know what was going on and then people started pulling up the Instagram post,” senior Maria Tobon said. “I tried not to get scared, and since we were in class I felt a little safer, but it was definitely scary knowing that someone was trying to threaten the school.”

The anonymous threat was posted on an Instagram account, stating that someone was going to “shoot up” CHS on either Jan. 5 or 6.

“I thought it would be a ten minute lockdown but it wasn’t, then I got kind of  scared,” senior Cameron Lawrence said. “I think it’s really wrong and messed up to threaten people like that.”

Students remained in their classrooms while police authorities evaluated the campus. Campus supervisors came to escort students to the restrooms as needed.

“I was actually really scared,” senior Antoinette Ancrum said. “I was being calm because I knew we were going to be alright, because we were in the safety of the teachers and of Officer Fanene.”

Students were instructed to remain in their classes until further instruction.

“Our class could see the security guards walking by out the window and everyone was just watching them and reading the comments on the post,” Tobon said.

Finally, at 11:15 a.m., teachers released students who had rides or a car at the school waiting for them. Teachers stayed with any remaining students who were unable to get picked up. The next day, Jan. 6, CHS and CVA campuses were closed as a safety precaution. The day off may be made up later in the school year. Students reacted to the announcement in many ways.

“We are doing films in my class right now and we only have like a couple days to do them so that’s kind of hectic,” Tobon said. “My other classes will probably be stressful as well. I was kind of upset when I found out we might have to make up the days,” Tobon said. “I know it’s not really anyone’s fault and I see where they are coming from.”

Furthermore, a 15-year-old female CHS student has been arrested for the post. The police continued to monitor the school on Jan. 7, to ensure the students’ safety.

“After any major event, we always review what we did and we review anything that could have been done better or the things that we did really well, how can we keep doing those well,” Officer Fanene said. “So we will do self-critique, the school will do it’s own self-critique, the police department will do it’s own self-critique and so if there’s another time, we will be better at handling the situation.”