Police officers and law enforcement officers swarmed Central Catholic High School in Oakland Wednesday morning, many of them in army fatigues, protective vests, and helmets — loading their automatic rifles as a helicopter circled overhead. At 10:39 a.m., a message played from police car scanners: “She did hear shots fired in the main building. It was on the first floor of the main building of Oakland Catholic. She did hear shots fired.”
Hundreds of parents whose children attend Central Catholic — attended by about 840 male students — and nearby Oakland Catholic High School — attended by about 500 female students — went through the emotional journey that has become all too common across the United States, as reports circulated that an active shooter had entered the schools. The threat seemed especially menacing in light of the recent shooting at another private Christian school in Tennessee just two days before.
Some parents said they appreciated how quickly police secured the building and shared information that the threat was a hoax. But other parents called the event a wake-up call, saying they want the school and community to better prepare for a potential future incident by providing metal detectors and allowing their children to keep their phones with them at all times.
Joshua Schreckengost received a call that there might be an active shooter at Central, which his son Talan Zandona, 15, attends.
“With the things that have been happening with the past couple of days, it sent a huge chill down our spines,” he said.
Schreckengost was able to get in touch by phone with his son, who said he was being escorted to his homeroom for a “soft lockdown” and an attendance check. His son had heard that shots had been fired, but he couldn’t confirm it.
Schreckengost said he spent 10 years in the U.S. Marines, so he approached the situation with a different mindset as he jumped into his car to head to the school.
“I definitely turned on my ‘Let's-go-to-war mindset,’” he said. “I got down here [to the school] as quick as I can, obviously, to make sure that, you know, I could get my son out of there alive.”
@wesanews Multiple schools and other buildings in Pittsburgh — and around the state — were on lockdown Wednesday morning after receiving reports of an active shooter, although public safety officials in Pittsburgh and elsewhere say they have no evidence of the claim at this time. More at wesa.fm.
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Dana Missouri’s grandson, Gordon, is an 11th-grader at Central Catholic. Gordon called his mom to tell her there was an active shooter in the school and that he was crouched underneath his desk. But his phone had less than 5% of a charge remaining on it. Missouri, who works from home, didn’t even tell her supervisor she was leaving or bother signing off of her work computer when she heard the news.
At 11:22 a.m. one parent received an automated phone call from the school, informing parents that the threat had been a hoax.
“The police arrived quickly, swept all the buildings and the campus thoroughly. Students and staff are all safe, and we are currently in the accountability protocol with the police,” the message said. “The campus has been cleared, and it is being secured and accountability is taking place. We are accounting for everyone currently per our protocol with police.”
Some parents, however, said they didn’t get that message. Eric Green, who is a parent of a freshman at the school, said neither he nor his wife was notified.
“They have to have a way to be able to notify the parents,” Green said.
By 12:30 p.m., a large group of parents who had been waiting across the street from Central Catholic began lining up in the school parking lot to pick up their children.
Once it became apparent that everyone was safe, Schreckongest said he was reassured by the scope of the law enforcement response.
“I think that if there was actually an active shooter, it would have been something that would have been handled correctly and promptly and swiftly,” he said.
Phones and door security
Some parents said their students called them from underneath their desks in school. Others complained that they couldn’t get through to their children. Students are supposed to keep their phones in their lockers during the school day, although they were allowed to retrieve their phones to contact family members after police cleared the premises Wednesday, according to Brian Cook, a spokesperson for the school.
Given the events of the day, Green said, the school’s phone policy might be a rule worth breaking.
Michelle Peduto, superintendent of Catholic Schools for the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, said it’s one of several policies the school will evaluate in the coming days. Peduto would not comment on the district’s safety protocols beyond noting that she was proud of how expeditiously they were followed.
But as Ashley Weaver stood a couple of blocks from Central Catholic waiting to be reunited with her 10th-grader son, she said she couldn’t help but wonder about additional measures the school could take to protect students in the future. Weaver said she believes it may be time to install metal detectors at the school’s entrance.
“You pay all this money for a school that your child should be safe [in],” she said. “I don't know what they have in there.”
As a parent and a nurse, Weaver said she has always worried about violence inside the school, and now she was going to take action.
“I feel like, now that this happened to me, this is something I'm going to advocate for as a parent to push for government money to be spent on the safety of our kids,” Weaver added. “Because we watch this every day.”
Tonika Mitchell’s son is a sophomore, and she said something needs to be done to address the violence and threats of violence across the country.
“Really, nobody is safe. People are getting shot at school, at churches — everywhere there's events where lots of people are around,” she said. “So, really nobody is safe. We always need to have somebody, armed security, law enforcement around to ensure people's safety because no one is safe out here.”
Mitchell said she believes the country needs to take action to reduce the number of accessible guns. And she hopes the school will consider metal detectors and pat-down searches as students enter the school.
“I feel like the school needs to step up or not step it up a notch with security,” she said.
School officials say both campuses will remain closed Thursday and Friday ahead of a previously scheduled Easter break. Students will return to classes on Tuesday, April 9.
