Greeley West High School’s first chance at a real-life lockdown couldn’t have gone better.

On Tuesday January 10, the Greeley Police Department notified Greeley West administration that there were reports of gunshots across the street in the Creekstone Apartment Complex. West immediately went into a “holding” protocol and carried on with classes as normal.  

Principal Mr. Jeff Cranson elaborated on the protocols, saying, “The school has started to stray away from District 6 protocols and take on a newer, more timely set of protocols called ‘Standard Response Protocols’.”

Cranson explained, “All protocols we use are the ‘I love u guys’ protocols from Platte Canyon High School. These were developed after a large school shooting by the family of a girl who passed away during the event. All of the ‘emergency packets’ inside of classrooms comprehensively list all of the protocols used in case of any probable emergency.”

No students were allowed to leave the building during the situation, which included the A Lunch period.

Two suspects were arrested near Burger King, unsettlingly close to the school. The four other suspects involved fled in a vehicle before the authorities arrived on the scene. 

Although the suspects were thought to have gotten away, moments later, the Greeley Police Department received a call informing them of a car that crashed into a home. Prior to officers arriving on the scene, the four suspects in the car fled on foot. The Police Department quickly deployed a surveillance drone and secured the perimeter in order to catch the suspects known to be traveling on foot.

Although the suspects involved fled, the authorities were soon after able to apprehend the four and send two of them to the hospital to be treated for car crash-related injuries. No one was harmed in arrests, nor were there any shooting-related injuries for which suspects needed to be treated.

Greeley West High School students were ultimately unfazed by the lockdown protocol, as the one hundred and twenty-four million dollar school kept them safe and calm throughout the duration of this event. The school faculty’s job was much easier, as the building of the new school was centered around the safety of staff and students.

“The old building, which had exterior doors, made it much harder to secure the school’s campus,” Cranson explained. “In the new building, it’s much easier because I can call in a hold and everything is locked down.”

With this lockdown event, the school ultimately proved to be a stronghold, and well worth the money that the taxpayers of Greeley made possible.