NEPTUNE BEACH, Fla. — Wednesday morning parents were made aware of a situation at Fletcher High School that caused some parents to pick up their children early from school. The school instituted a lockout due to an anonymous tip about a threat of a school shooting.
There was an extra police presence at Fletcher High School on Wednesday and the principal sent a message to parents say that – as normal – the school’s Evolv weapons detection system would be used as students entered the building. But that didn’t stop some parents from picking their children up early.
“I’d just rather have her with me than not,” said Kim Gossett, who picked her daughter up early from school on Wednesday due to the school lockout.
The initial message to parents from the Fletcher High School principal said that all students and staff were safe, but some students had an uneasy feeling going to class while the school was operating under a lockout.
“My teacher closed down all the windows,” said Fletcher HS junior Jack Serlo, who was picked up early from school by a parent, “but I was in a portable in the back edge of the school. I did feel a little scared because I didn’t know what was going on.”
That’s exactly the reason why some parents pulled their kids out of school on Wednesday.
“It’s always nerve-racking when you get these kind of calls,” said Gossett, “you just don’t know, it’s just scary. You’d rather be safe than sorry.”
Multiple vehicles from Duval School Police patrolled the campus throughout the day.
The anonymous tip of a school shooting came to Neptune Beach Police through Fortify FL. Neptune Beach Police said they were on scene within 2 minutes of receiving the tip. Fortify FL was created after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting and is an app that allows users to send school safety tips directly to local law enforcement.
Despite being under lockout for the entire day, the school day continued as scheduled and no shooting occurred at Fletcher High School. School administrators sent another message to parents Wednesday afternoon stating that no additional information was found about Wednesday morning’s anonymous tip and added that all students and staff at the school were safe.
For more information about Fortify FL, visit this webpage: https://getfortifyfl.com/.