AG Weiser Speaks, while Parents Left in Dark Amid Threat and Scores of Students Searched

Jacob Richards

Editor’s note: This is the second story we have covered inside of one of District 51’s schools. Students and parents are desperate to get the truth out there. But they are scared. Students and parents are afraid of retaliation to the point that for a second time we are breaking this story with anonymous sources. People shouldn’t be this afraid if the system was working well.

Friday September 20, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser was in Grand Junction visiting with School District 51 leaders specifically “to learn how our … student cell phone policy … supports students, teachers, and families.” According to the D51 Superintendent’s Weekly Update email.

But hours earlier the cell-phone policy was not working for students and families at R-5 High School as the school went into lockdown over a gun threat, and scores of students were searched including pat downs and requests to pull up shirts and pants as GJPD and D51 security searched for a weapon.

“We go to school to learn and instead we are interrupted … and searched for weapons,” said an anonymous student in a post on Facebook. “They searched all the backpacks … they had us lift up out pant legs … and some students were patted down.” Three or four classrooms of students were searched by Police and D51 security.

“I was reprimanded for being on my phone as I was texting my mother telling her what was happening and that I love her, and I was also texting my … girlfriend to see if she was safe.” said a student we will call Allen, “I should have been able to text my loved ones.” 

Allen and other students report teachers texting during the almost two-hour long lock down. “If teachers can text their loved ones in incidents like this why can’t students?” asked Allen.

Allen wasn’t the only student reprimanded for trying to text their parents in very scary situations. “Our phones are not the issue in these situations, we live in a place where it is normalized that school shootings are going to happen,” another student posted anonymously.

R-5 High School tried to put a sunny spin on the whole thing in a Facebook post. “Students were safe and in great spirits throughout the event. R5 Staff was supportive and honest the entire time which helped students remain calm, so they didn’t need their phones.”

Allen called the statement by the school “100% misinformation.”

“We were not [in great spirits]. We were terrified and scared for our lives, they said they were truthful and communicative with students, another lie. How can they be truthful with students and communicative when the teachers don’t even know what’s going on?”

“Today, at approximately 9:00 a.m., R5 High School was put in a shelter-in-place out of an abundance of caution after a concerning report was made to the administration. District 51 Security and the Grand Junction Police Department responded to the school to address the situation and made contact with the individuals involved,” the district stated in an email to parents.

No suspects were arrested, and no gun was found.

This was the second shelter in place at the R5 High School in the past week.

Central High School in Clifton also went into lockdown the same day.

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