Published
4 months agoon
Clovis West High School was on lockdown Monday morning for the second time in as many school days after Fresno Police received a phone call from a caller threatening a school shooting, Lt. Bill Dooley said.
Dooley said police dispatchers received the call at 9:30 a.m. after it was forwarded by a Fresno County Sheriff’s Office dispatcher. He said he had not yet heard the audio of the phone call and couldn’t say whether the caller sound like the same person who phoned in a threat to Fresno police on Friday afternoon that sparked lockdowns at Clovis West and Fort Washington Elementary across the street.
Dooley said police units were at the northeast Fresno high school. “We’re working with Clovis Unified to make sure everyone is safe,” he said.
Clovis Unified also locked down Fort Washington on Monday while police investigate the reported threat at the high school.
Police and district officials determined that Friday afternoon’s threat was a hoax. The lockdown delayed the release of students from both schools.
Clovis Unified announced at 10:14 a.m. that the lockdowns had been lifted after law enforcement, which included federal investigators, had determined that the threat was not credible.
Both schools will operate on “shelter in place” status for a short time before returning to normal operations, the district said in a news release.
Dooley said the caller Friday used a fake cell phone number that makes it hard for law enforcement to track.
The district announced at 10:42 a.m. that the shelter in place had been lifted and both schools had returned to normal operations. “Additionally, we have teams of trained staff onsite to support the emotional wellbeing of students and staff given the disruption these fake calls have created both Friday and today,” the district said in a news release.
Nancy Price is a multimedia journalist for GV Wire. A longtime reporter and editor who has worked for newspapers in California, Florida, Alaska, Illinois and Kansas, Nancy joined GV Wire in July 2019. She previously worked as an assistant metro editor for 13 years at The Fresno Bee. Nancy earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. Her hobbies include singing with the Fresno Master Chorale and volunteering with Fresno Filmworks. You can reach Nancy at 559-492-4087 or Send an Email
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