A distressed student was taken into custody by Longmont Police from a Longmont school today.
A female student became upset around lunchtime at Altona Middle school today and withdrew a knife, Superintendent Don Haddad said. It is still unknown what precipitated the student’s distress, he said.
Students were outside during the lunch period when the event occurred. School staff and Principal Jeremy Lacrosse moved all students, minus the girl, into the building and initiated the Lockout safety protocol for the middle school.
The Lockout protocol includes moving students into the building, locking the exterior doors but resuming classroom activities whenever possible, according to the SVVSD website.
School staff called the Longmont Police Department and School Resource Officers responded along with a Longmont CORE responder.
CORE, or Crisis Outreach Response and Engagement team, is a “specialized unit which is comprised of a behavioral health clinician, a paramedic and a specially trained police officer, who respond to 911 calls for services that indicate a mental illness or substance use issue,” states the city of Longmont website.
Haddad said the officers on scene began de-escalating the situation that included calling the girl’s mother and brother to provide her comfort. “They were patient in their approach to protect her and give her support,” he said.
Officers worked to calm the girl for over an hour “while the student continued to display the knife and attempt to reenter the school,” according to a Facebook post from Longmont Public Safety, or LPS.
The police officers deployed noise and flash devices to distract the girl and cause her to drop the knife. When those tactics did not work, an officer “intentionally opened the school door behind the student which caused the student to lose their balance, and another officer immediately disarmed the student,” according to the post by LPS.
The girl was not harmed as she was disarmed.
No other students were involved in the event and remained safely inside the school. The school stayed in the Lockout protocol for 80 minutes.
“Again, student safety is our highest priority and I would like to thank and commend our students, teachers, and staff for following all safety protocols. I would also like to thank Longmont Public Safety for their quick response. Our strong partnerships with our local law enforcement agencies have a tremendous impact on supporting student safety and well-being,” Lacrosse said in a letter sent to Altona Middle School parents today.
The school is offering counselors and a crisis response team on the premises for students and staff who may have become distressed by the incident.
