The lockdown, as seen through SLOHS’s new clocks, in the counseling office. Photo courtesy of senior managing editor Izzy Nino de Rivera.

  On May 31, San Luis Obispo High School went on lockdown out of precaution because of a wanted suspect on San Luis Drive. 

  Suspect Jordan Smith had been evading arrest for several months for “…domestic violence, robbery, drug sales, resisting arrest, and a parole violation” and after being located at the Amtrak station, he began to make a run toward the high school. According to the Tribune, he climbed onto the roof of a nearby home on San Luis Drive and Johnson Street when on the run from police in an attempt to evade arrest.

  “Because of an off-campus incident, and in an abundance of caution, [SLO Police Department] directed SLOHS to go into lockdown at 12:14pm. We immediately complied,” said principal Rollin Dickinson in an email to staff, parents, and students after the incident.

  At 12:28pm, at the direction of SLOPD, SLOHS transitioned to a shelter in place and by 12:37pm the shelter-in-place was lifted by SLOPD.

  While some were maybe in Algebra II or in English, some were in Band, Auto II, Ceramics, Ag, and many other classes where the lockdown may have looked unique compared to the average classroom.

  “Band was rehearsing in the theater when the lockdown started. We ran into the dressing room and then 15 of us were locked in the single-stall bathroom,” said senior and Opinion editor Jane Culbreath.

    However, because of the lack of disclosure during the lockdown, some students and staff felt unprepared.

  “No one was taking the lockdown seriously because we didn’t understand what was going on. We didn’t hear the lockdown over the loudspeaker in the room we were in and when we did begin to take shelter in a storage room we still didn’t get any information. I would say my class was prepared despite the lack of information, yet some didn’t really take it like a genuine threat,” said junior and Feature editor Alma Tinoco.

  Hopefully, in the future, a lockdown doesn’t happen again, whether it’s an off-campus or on-campus threat, but the May 31 lockdown showed that students and staff alike need to be aware of possible threats when they least expect it.

Sources: ksby.com, sanluisobispo.com, slosheriff.org