After 9:35 I was heading to English class and I usually talk to my friends before I head into English. I was in English when Mr. Jones said to go in to lockdown mode, everybody in my class thought it was a drill until the second announcement when Mr. Jones said a student saw a man with a hand gun in the parking lot. Then everybody in my class started texting to their parents or even calling their parents (which I was doing) telling them that they were in a lockdown. Some people in my class started freaking out and even crying, people were calling their friends asking them if they’re okay, and people were getting calls from their parents asking them if there were shots.

My teacher, some of my friends, some of my classmates, and I had to use the bathroom. My teacher kept pacing around the classroom and it was making us nervous because we had to go too. Classmates kept telling my friends and other people in my class to use a plant but it probably would’ve smelled and we probably would’ve been embarrassed to go because nothing would cover us.

Then at about 1:00 we were told that we are being evacuated from the school and over to the Civic Center. Once the administrator and the SWAT team came to our door people were happy and scared then we thought that he could still be in the building or out in the parking lot and once we didn’t see the guy we knew we were safe. Once we were in the Civic Center Arena there were a lot of people they had to put us in the seats at the top of the arena. Then my friends and I had to go to the bathroom we felt so much better and as we were coming out of the bathroom their were a lot of people lined up to use it.

- Shelby

I heard that people needed to use the bathroom really bad, that they couldn’t see anything because the lights were off, and that they couldn’t talk.  I, however, was in probably the best place you could have been.  I was in the gym.

We were put into the locker room.  The only bad thing was the smell.  But we had almost everything we could need.  We had bathrooms, water fountains, and they were even selling Gatorade.  Since there was a whole gym between us and the locked door, we did not need to turn the lights off or be quiet.  We had to keep it down a little bit, mind you, but we could still talk.

I also heard that some teachers didn’t let their students use their cell phones, not even for texting.  We had full access to ours.  But it was used for uncomfortable, serious talks with our parents.

To top all of this off, we were the first to be dismissed to the Civic Center.  But this whole ordeal was still perhaps one of the weirdest combination of excitement and boredom I have ever experienced.  I can’t help but feel bad for the other students whom didn’t have our luxuries and I have a new respect for all of them.

- Zach

Well since I was in my Spanish Class we were one of the last ones to evacuate the building. There were two girls that had to go to the restroom. My teacher was signing their pass when they made the announcement that we were going into a lockdown. So we waited and waited and it came to the point that the two girls had to go too bad. My Spanish class has some blankets in it, so they put those up and they went to the bathroom in the trash can. That was after waiting three hours.

- Matt

Well, hmmm… It all started at about 9:35am during the passing period from 1^st to 2^nd block. I had forestry class and just as I was walking in the room I heard a kid talking about the whole Virginia Tech thing and that it is probably going to happen to our school. Just a little while after the bell had rung; Mr. Jones our principle came over the intercom and told us to go in to lock down status. No one took it serious: “Ohh they are just practicing this now because of what happened yesterday, how stupid”.

We happened to have a sub that day and we all went over into the computer lab, then the teachers had to check their e-mail, that’s when we started being quiet and wondering what was going on. What was going on??? That was the worst feeling, we had no idea what was going on. Then one administrator came over the intercom and said that someone had spotted a man with a hand gun in the school and to stay in lockdown.

That’s when some of my class mates freaked. ”Ohh my God, I don’t want to die” and other stuff. The teacher told us to come and sit in her office (hint: Her office was only 8ft by 10ft) and there were about 25 of us. By that time everyone had pulled out their cell phones and was calling their parents.

Then they said that they are evacuating the building and taking everyone to the Civic Center. I was like “What?” I did not want to go anywhere; I just wanted to stay where I was at. There was so many rumors by then, what he looked like, that there was more that one, that there were gun shots, and that he is still in the building, and way more, none of them were good.

We were at the opposite end if the school that they were starting to evacuate so we had to wait for probably 2 hours. During this time there was lots of commotion and scary conversations. I was scared. The sub kept getting up and looking around and we are like jezz just sit down even the other teacher had to tell her to get down and that this is very serious.

Also one kid, that poor kid, had to go pee really, really bad. He was going to pee his pants so he had to go in the corner and pee in a bottle. Eww – but I guess if you have to go you have to go.

Then came the scariest part for me, It was when the SWAT team came into our room. We were already pretty shook up by then, then we hear banging on the door and then it opened. There were 3 guys all dressed out; they had helmets, bullet vest, boots, and a big machine gun with a flashlight on the end of it. All of the classes met in the hall and were ordered to go one by one down the big hall with your hands on the shoulders of the person in front of you. No one was smiling everyone was serious. You wouldn’t think that all the kids would be so cooperative and so quiet, but when it comes down to it they will. We were walking fast but it seemed like it took forever, and the whole time I was thinking, “Why are they taking us out side?” I really didn’t understand he could be out there. We walked by rows and rows of cops, all of them we decked out.

We make it over to the civic center, and find out that it was a big fake, yeah a phony. Everyone had mixed thoughts and emotions: some mad, some sad, some happy, just all kinds. I was mad how could some stupid kid do this, there could have been way more important thing that those cops could have been doing, but no. We walked out of the Civic Center and there were tons of parents, it was kind of nice to know that they really cared. I went and saw my mom and talked with her, then I went home and talked with my dad and family. In the end I think it was kind of good for the community, I think it brought us together, and now we know that the schools are protected pretty well and the cops will be there in a snap.

- Presli

My day began fairly well. I had Espanol Uno with a crowd of annoying freshman and I was clearly anticipating the first block bell to ring so I could make my way down the hall to the math department. I had been holding my pee for the past 15 minutes, so I dropped my things off at my desk and sprinted toward the bathroom. Four feet away from a toilet, I heard the announcement to “go into Lockdown.” I immediately thought “just pee first.” I was interrupted by teachers yelling at me to go to class. When I arrived to my room I was the only one freaking out, I figured it must have been real since they never make lockdowns during passing time.

After an hour Mr. Jones popped on the intercom telling teachers to check their emails. My teacher didn’t make any expressions while he was reading it, which in one way made me feel better and in other way scared me because I felt as if he was hiding his emotions. By this time I had missed around 15 calls from my mom who works at Stevens and knew more than I did about everything happening. She sent me 5 texts, all to which I had to sneak my phone around to reply to. I felt we should be able to use our cell phones at a time like this, but our teacher wouldn’t allow us to. I also missed around 20 calls from four unknown numbers (I found out later it was my sister calling from her friends cell phones because hers was in her locker.)

Ten minutes after the email was sent Mr. Jones came on told us “this is not a drill.” He explained there was a “man spotted in the building with a handgun” and that cops had surrounded the building and “he” was “believed to be in the parking lot.”

Hours pass by and I’m still sitting there getting ready to puke because I can’t text anyone back and I’m worrying people a lot. I was also ready to PEE MY PANTS. Luckily we had a closet in our classroom that a kid went into and peed in a Gatorade bottle. I would rather hold mine than do that though.

At 11:00 Mr. Jones came on and announced that they were evacuating the building and we were being taken to the civic center, which confused me because they thought “he” was in the parking lot, so why would they even want us to leave the school? An hour and a half later we hear a knock at the door; we all file out in a single line grabbing the persons’ shoulder in front of us with ONE hand, not TWO (they made this very specific). After we got to the math department doors the guys with guns started shortening the lines, of course they pick ME to be the guinea pig of this. “Hey! Girl in the green sweater!” I didn’t look around AND I didn’t realize I was wearing a green sweater. He pointed at me several times until he said “Green sweater, white shirt.” I look down, for some reason, and it was exactly what I was wearing. He gave me very vague directions to “move to the front of the line.” I started a new line and that’s exactly what he wanted. I then had to lead the line, which scared the crap out of me because they didn’t tell me exactly what to do and yelled at me a lot, which I understood– they were just as stressed as we were.

We file passed empty classrooms out into the parking lot and over toward the civic center where parents were waiting and waving like it was some kind of airport. Cameras and news men and women were there shooting every second of it. Almost an hour later all 2300 (or so) kids are filed into the arena and everyone is “safe.” After 45 minutes or so of being crammed into all the seats one of my friends got a phone call from her mom saying it was all fake. I didn’t really believe it because it was SO real feeling. About 5 minutes after the phone call from her mom Mr. Jones comes on and announces that it was all false. I was ready to punch someone in the face. This kid wasted about 8000 people’s day. He wasted every person enrolled in a Rapid City School, every policeman there, every firefighter, ambulance driver, every parent, every newscaster, pretty much the whole city’s day.

- Danielle

What a sweet time, at first. I thought it was just another drill but then again it was kind of weird that they called it before the bell rang. At first I was happy because I didn’t know what was going on; I just thought I was wasting time for my class. Then they announced what was going on, by the sounds of it Jones was about to have a heart attack. They said a kid had seen someone with a gun but no confirmed shots so I still felt pretty safe.

Then we got to about eleven o clock and we were still in the room by this time everyone was using their cell phones, I was texting and calling about the whole world – I was quite bored. About 11:30 I was really bored and hungry, pretty much everyone was. I was in the science department so anybody who had to go to the bathroom just peed in a beaker. I kept going from classroom to classroom visiting friends and watching the news.

Then they announced that they were transferring all the student to the civic center by classes or also called an evacuation. Of course they had to make the science department one of the last to deport. About 1:15 they evacuated us and that wasn’t too bad. The SWAT team looked sharp with their vests and guns. When we got outside: there were cops and people everywhere. Then we all went to the civic center and they told us it was a hoax. I went to lunch and continued with my day.

- Cody

Well I would have to say that it was a very weird time. I mean I really didn’t let it hit me that much until I saw the guns and everything when we were walking over to the civic center. Actually not until that night when I was thinking about it did it hit me that it could have been something much more serious. But I never thought if something did happen that I would be shot. I was in the science department and we were behind two doors it would’ve been hard to try to get in there. Even if the person got into the science class he would have to try to get in the back and by then the police could have trapped him in the room.

Our teacher let us talk on our phones and do whatever we wanted on our phones. My friend Alex got a text from his cousin in Iowa who said he saw it on the news. I am just thankful for not having to go to the bathroom. Some people in the Science department had to use milk jugs and beakers. But we pretty much just sat around and watched the news and looked at magazines and stuff. But we sat in a dark room for like and hour. Mr. S. was really cool about everything. When I got home I had tons of messages from family on my phone asking what happened and stuff. It was a really weird day.

- Will

So, yesterday there was a lock down.

It was really scary cause that was the first time I ever saw Mr. Jones run and be all freaked out. We were coming up to the door wondering why they were locked and stuff and then Mr. Jones came running up the door and started yelling at us to get to the library and stuff and we were getting like rushed up the stairs. So we sat there for about 9924334 hours (sums up to around 3) just being bored and talking and trying to sleep and trying to hear what people on the security guards walkie talkies were saying…so that we got all the information we possibly could. We couldn’t go anywhere near the wall of windows and we couldn’t go to the bathroom or anything. There was one kid that did his business in a Gatorade bottle and that was kind of weird.

When we were heading out to the Civic Center we had to hold on to the shoulders of the person in front of us and that was sort of hard cause my group would go all fast the slow then speed up again and it was sad.

We had 149 people in the library.

I don’t like the kid that did this. It was stupid. And I hope he feels terrible.

- Sarah (who, for the record, wanted to title it, “The Suspenseful Story of Sarah”)