By HALEY

GUSTAFSON

Escanaba Daily Press

ESCANABA — A woman was has been arrested following a threat of violence against people at the Escanaba Junior/Senior High, which prompted the district to be on lockdown Friday, according to Escanaba Public Safety and the Escanaba Area Public Schools District.

According to Escanaba Area Public Schools Superintendent Coby Fletcher, the school received notice that a warning threat had been made against the junior high at about 12:30 p.m. Friday on “OK2SAY,” a hotline where students can make anonymous calls, texts, or emails about bullying, threats or any other dangers.

Once the school heard about the tip, Fletcher said the district collaborated with Escanaba Public Safety Department to ensure optimum security measures were taken.

“We’re not going to be willing to take the chance,” said Fletcher about shutting down the schools, adding they “can never be too safe.”

According to Escanaba Public Safety, the threat was investigated and determined to be credible. The suspect, an adult female, was arrested for making a terroristic threat and lodged at the Delta County Jail.

The lockdown affected all of the buildings in the school district, including including the Escanaba Upper Elementary School, Lemmer Elementary, Webster Elementary, Soo Hill Elementary, and Junior/Senior High, explained Fletcher. The schools remained on lockdown until their respective dismissal times.

During the lockdown, Fletcher said students had controlled movement within the building as well as monitoring the exterior of the schools.

If students had to walk the halls, they were escorted to their destination and all classroom doors were locked. In addition, all exterior doors of the school were locked and all entrances were secured, noted Fletcher.

Police maintained a presence as students were released and buses ran on their normal schedule, stated a posting on the Escanaba school district’s Facebook page.

“We express our appreciation for your patience as we collaborate with local law enforcement to ensure the safety of our students,” stated the post.

Fletcher said while the threat was most likely wouldn’t have caused imminent danger, putting the district on lockdown was a necessary precautionary measure to ensure the safety of the students.