Students leave Prairie View High School Dec. 1 after an hour-long lockdown. Police arrested three juveniles and recovered a handgun from a student's car.
Steve Smith
Brighton police and 27J School District officials said a Dec. 1 lockdown at Prairie View High School may have started with an altercation off campus.
Police eventually arrested three juveniles and were able to recover one handgun from a student’s car.
No names were released because of the students’ ages. No students or staff were injured.
It happened around 2:30 p.m., just before the start of a girls basketball tournament. A combined statement from police and the school district said officers and campus security met the students when they returned to school. During the search of the car, police put the school in a precautionary lockdown. It lasted about an hour.
Police also searched the school and found no firearms.
Basketball teams and support personnel were inside the school preparing for the tournament when the lockdown began. Assistant principal Jason Humphrey said he ushered several people into safe areas, then went back through the school making sure the doors were locked and secure.
“Under the circumstances, the girls did a very good job,” PVHS basketball coach Sam Mackall said. “The girls really brought it home in the second half and got the fundamentals in line.”
PVHS beat Adams City 41-21 in the opening round of the tournament.
After the three arrests, students remained in their classrooms during an investigation. At 3:15 p.m., authorities gave the all-clear to resume routine schedules. The joint statement said officers worked with school staff to release students to parents. Other students were released once police finished their work in the school parking lot.
A similar incident occurred at Boulder High School Dec. 1. According to a tweet from Boulder Daily Camera reporter Mitchell Byers, district officials received a Safe2Tell tip about a student with a gun off campus. The student had a BB gun but no other firearms.
Commerce City police and Adams County sheriff's deputies were on the scene.
