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Safe2Tell reports prompt lockouts, lockdowns, evacuations at Denver-area schools Friday

Posted at 2:02 PM, Apr 19, 2019
and last updated 2019-04-19 21:41:58-04

DENVER – Tips made through Safe2Tell Friday prompted lockouts, lockdowns and evacuations a day before the 20th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting.

Carmody Middle School was placed on lockout early Friday afternoon after Lakewood Police received a tip through Safe2Tell that there was a person with a weapon on campus.

In a letter sent to parents, a spokesperson for Jeffco Public Schools said that while students were safe, police were continuing to search the grounds and would dismiss students at around 3:45 p.m. No weapon has been found so far.

At around 2:41 p.m., an official with the 27J School District, which serves 18,000 students in Brighton, Commerce City and Thornton, said Brighton High School was on lockdown and that all other schools within the Brighton area were on lockout after police received a tip through Safe2Tell.

Just after 4 p.m., a district official said all school still in class, other than Brighton High, would release students on their normal schedule. After-school activities would continue on as normal.

Ten classes from Brighton High were evacuated to St. Augustine Church, located near S. 6th Ave. and Egbert St., according to a 27J district spokesperson. Most students, however, remain at the school. Police said students who were evacuated from the campus would be reunited with their parents at the church.

A district official said in a tweet that the situation at Brighton was "not an active incident" and that authorities were just investigating a tip. Police later said that they received anonymous Safe2Tell reports that a student at Brighton High School had seen another student loading a firearm in a school restroom. However, no weapon was located and no student has been identified as having presented a legitimate threat to others.

The 27J spokesperson also said that they were planning a supervised release of Brighton High students. Parents are asked to come in and sign a paper before students can be released to their parents.

At around 4:30 p.m., Brighton police tweeted they were releasing students from the high school in phases: Students that drive would be released from school grounds first, followed by students who walked to and from school - police said these students would need to have a parent come pick them up, and they asked parents to arrive to the front of Brighton High School. Lastly, students who take the bus to and from school will be released last from the school.

The Brighton Police Department asked residents to avoid the area.