I was sitting in my desk, waiting for the bell to ring and class to begin. It’s not uncommon to have a lockdown or fire drill because it seems like we are practicing them all the time. So when Mr. Jones came on the intercom and said we need to go into lockdown, I didn’t think much of it. It seemed strange because in the hallway everyone was rushing to class. I don’t know why but I wasn’t scared at all, even when we were told a gun was sighted. The teacher shut off the lights and locked the door. Some people took out their ipod and the teacher announced that we could have our cell phones out too. I found out afterwards, that in many classes kids weren’t allowed to use their cell phones. I think that it ridiculous because that is the only way that parents could know what was going on and not freak out. I always have my cell phone with me. In fact, I’m always the person getting caught with it. But it just so happens I left it in my locker that day. How perfect. So, while everyone was texting and receiving pictures of the swat team, I could only watch and get mad at myself for not bringing it to class.

Over the intercom, the principal told the teachers to check their email for information on what was going on. I asked my teacher what it said but he wouldn’t tell us because usually we aren’t supposed to know that stuff. Of course, we were told shortly after that. You can’t expect 2,000 students to cooperate when we have no idea what’s going on. After about 5 minutes, they made an announcement that someone had been sighted with a gun but he had fled the school. We were told that the police were called but we had no idea, until later, how big of a deal this was. We turned on the news but turned the volume down really low. They were interviewing one of the cops and showing footage of the swat team surrounding the school. It seemed that we were really safe because there were people everywhere and rumors of snipers on the roofs near by.

Speaking of rumors, there was a ton. It was impossible to know what was going on because half the information we got was false. We heard there were shots at an elementary school, that the science department had been taken hostage, and that they had found the person with the gun. All of this turned out to be false. You could only trust what we were told over the intercom but they only gave announcements about every hour. On the news, they said that parents could go to a near by grocery store to get more information. I wasn’t sure if my parents would know where to go when they found out what was going on so I called my dad with a friend’s phone. He sounded worried so I told him that we were ok but I didn’t really know much more than him. My friend and I moved across the room to sit with other people. We were all really calm and no one seemed to be afraid at all.

Using the computers in the room, we went to the journal’s site and read the articles that were posted about the current situation. There is a place that you can leave comments, so we did. We thought it would be interesting for readers to see the perspective of the students inside the school. When I looked at the site after the lock down, there were nearly 100 comments. Everyone else had the same idea as we did. It was kind of weird to see that all of the cover stories were about the lockdown and Virginia Tech. It’s pretty sad that that’s all there is to talk about!

After about 2 hours the principal made an announcement that, room-by-room, people would be coming to escort us across the street to the civic center. It took forever for them to get to us! We were the one of the last departments to be evacuated so we had to wait another one and a half hours to leave. In that time we talked a lot and just hung out. Later we found out the whole thing was a hoax. There were mixed feelings about this because some people were happy that we got to miss school, others were mad that they had been so scared, and yet some people, like me, were just angry about how long we had to sit there bored. It was a crazy experience that was actually kind of fun but I definitely don’t want it to happen again.

-Kenzie

I thought that the lockdown was a drill at first. But then when Mr. Jones came on and told us that it was not a drill I got a little worried. Then after about a half an hour I just got really bored. I was really glad that Mr. Sheehy let us text and call our parents. I also thought that he handled the situation really well. If I were to ever get stuck in a lockdown again I would want to be in his room. I just felt really safe with him.

Then when we turned on the T.V. and saw all of the police I was kind of worried. I didn’t think it was a big deal until then. I also liked how fast the police got there. I heard that they were there in at least two minutes. Later that day I started to think about what could have happened. I also got a new perspective of things. I had so many things that were going trough my mind. I thought about my sister at South, because at the time I only knew that the guy had left after he got spotted, so I thought that he might go over there since the shooter knew that Central was locked down. I kept getting these text messages from this girl in Stevens asking if I was alright and I would say yes. She was really worried about me.

- Zach

While I was just getting into my classroom for 2nd block the announcement came for us to get into lockdown, and at first it didn’t scare me at much because I thought it was just a drill. But after a couple hours, Mr. Jones sent out an email saying that this is real then I started to get a little scared. So we just all sat there in the dark, our teacher let us use our phones to call our parents to let them know that we were ok, he didn’t care if we texted our friends or family members because that makes less noise then talking on the phone – all it makes is clicking. My sister texted me and asked if she could call me to talk to me so I called her after she sent that text message and she was crying, asking me what was going on, she was more scared then I was.

When I was siting there I kept on getting text messages from my friends and family asking what was going on, and if I was ok. The part that scared me the most and when it hit me that this was real was when we were getting evacuated. When the SWAT team guy and a principal came in they just walked in and told us to get in a single file line and hold onto the person ahead of you. So as we were walking out that was the scariest part cuz there was a guy with a gun standing right there, doing the best he can to protect all of us. I belive that the Rapid City police department did a very good job of protecting us. I hope that the kid that did this learned that making prank calls like he did is very serious and not to do it again. Well thank god that we have been practicing the lock downs and stuff or we would have been so out of control, most of the people wouldn’t know what to do.

~Randi~

April 17, 2007 I went to school feeling not good and that something bad was going to happed. During 2ed block, my English class, Mr. Jones told us that it was a lockdown because someone had seen a man with a handgun in the school. How I felt about the lockdown was scared for my life and I was mad at the end. I thought that we were all going to die. I never thought that something like this can happen to my school in a small town. I was scared that the gun man would come throw the door and shoot all of us and we would be all killed.

During the lockdown it was a mess; I got really mad at some people that I didn’t like but I had to hold back. I was trying to make myself think about everyone that I loved in my life, even my boyfriend, and I thought of a happy place. I was texting my mom telling her what had happed and that I was ok, I was also texting my brother Anthony that is in 12^th grade where we would be meeting after if we were going to get out of here. I really felt like we were going to be getting shot after we leave the room but then again I thought that it might be all a joke on the school – I was not sure though.

An hour has passed and I was getting really scared for every one around me but at the same time I was not scared – I was half and half. I was really getting mad at one of the girls in my English class that was saying things that were not right and not true. I really wanted to slap her but I thought if I did that then I would be into trouble. I started talking to a guy in my class. We just sat and talked through the whole time pretty much. I was getting really hungry so I went through my purse and found some candy and started eating it.

After another hour had passed I had to go to the bathroom so I had to wait until we get out of there. I wanted to get out of that room so I can see my friends and my love ones. So after sitting in there for 3 hours it was getting boring. We heard sounds coming from the outside of the room and the first thought that went throw my mind was “can that be the gun man?” but it was a cop telling us that they are there way to get us out. Another hour had passed and it was really boring in there so I started texting my boyfriend to see if he was ok and all right because I heard that all the schools are in a lockdown right after us. Before I knew it some person was telling us to open the door for the cops so we did and they told us that we had to put our hands on the person’s shoulders in front of us.

When they were getting the other kids out of their rooms we had to stand there with our hands still on the person’s shoulders in front of us. So when they got the other rooms, we left to go down stairs and go outside and cross the street to the civic center. So we all went in there and sat there for a few minutes before Mr. Jones got on the microphone and told us what had happed and he also told us that it was all a hoax. I thought right then and there that this guy is going to be getting into a lot of trouble with the cops and the school; also I thought that it was stupid for him telling them that some one was here with a handgun and started crying. I hope that kid gets into a lot of trouble for putting our lives in danger. I am glad that it was not real because then someone would have been shot and killed. I am happy that we got out safe and that we were never in real harm. But some day it will happed to a school in Rapid like it did at Virginia Tech but I hope not though. I was really ticked off after what had just happed but then again I was glad that it was fake and not real.

- Tonia

It seemed more like a dream more then any thing and I though that I would just wake up and it would all be back to the way things always are. As me and my friend were sitting there in the dark texting our friends and family it finally hit me that it was really happening that some thing was not right. I remember having one of my best friends text me asking me, “are you ok and r u hurt.” That right there really made things seem more real.

The only thing we could do really was sit there and listen to music or text on our phones. Hearing how scared every one was by the text. There was one I got from my boyfriend telling me that he was so scared that he left his class down in his town and came up to Rapid City. That made me want to cry because, I knew this was bigger than what I could have ever dreamed it would have been. Getting texted from my boyfriend telling me what was going on outside and all the cops that were there, it’s something that you just can’t forget. There is nothing that you can comepare it to.

When the cop finally came to our room and it was is time to go was kind of scary but then you new that you would be ok. Seeing the guns and all the guys and how we couldn’t walk on the one side of the hall. It really is some thing you don’t want you have to see. I know that its some thing I will always remember. There is nothing like it. Knowing that some thing is not right and you don’t know what it is and you just have to sit there and try not to think about it. That long wait seemed like it went on forever, sitting there thinking about your family and the shooting the day before. You just have to real keep calm and think of the good and are happy that nothing did happen.

- Bailey

Tuesday morning at around 9:35, Central High School ordered a school wide lockdown. And it was during red day second block and my class was Nutrition and Wellness and my teacher shortly after the announcement decided to shut and lock the door. When the teachers read their mail boxes and found out that the lockdown was real, we did exactly what the Crisis Response Plan said. It said that we needed to sit on the floor in a safe place away from windows and doors, and to turn off the lights and to be very very quiet. And let me tell you…the kitchen floors suck at being comfortable.

That is exactly what we did. But then everyone had cell phones and they whipped them out and the lights were so bright that it was starting to look like it was the northern lights in our classroom. Everyone was texting their family and friends and telling them that they were ok. The parents were told to wait in the Albertsons parking lot where the Albertsons people handed out free food and drinks for the scared and worried parents. The SWAT team started the evacuations at around 11 in the morning. So our class was one of the first to go out across the street to the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center to safety. The police arrived only TWO minutes after the report had been made. That made me feel somewhat safer for me knowing that they got here that quick. So while we were walking out of the classroom and we had to have both hands onto the person in front of us shoulders.

We had to walk in a single file line and no talking. It was really scary during the whole thing. When Mr. Jones had said that the whole thing was a hoax and that the 15 year old kid that made the call, admitted that it was a fake, I personally think that the kid should be convicted to the full extent. I don’t think that someone should joke around about this kind of stuff. Plus, that fake call cost the state much money and that parents much grief. Especially with the Columbine incident and the Virginia Tech shooting that happened the day before.

When the teachers, staff, and police let us out of the arena, the first person I saw was my mom. When she saw me she ran right over and hugged me like a teddy bear. It was a really terrifying day for all of us to go through that experience.

- Alex (a.k.a ARREX!)

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

So it was like 10:45 and I was getting things ready to open up at work. I check my phone and I had received a text message: “Hey we are in lock down. There is a guy in here with a gun.” My reaction was to send one back saying “You’re dumb. What’s going on this weekend?” I had gotten it from a friend who likes to joke around a lot so I didn’t believe him.

The work phone rang; it was a coworker who is also a senior here at Central. “Hey, did you hear about what’s going on at school?” After I got caught up on what we knew, which wasn’t a lot, I had to go unlock the doors so I kept my phone in my pocket. Throughout the day I was texting one person who was in the school, two others who were on their way to school and were told to go home, and was calling my mom, to keep her informed on what I knew. I was getting three different stories, so I turned on the radio. One said that he had heard shots, one said that the guy was heading towards East North Street, which is where I work, and one said that they heard that there was something going on at an elementary school.

I wasn’t able to talk to them for a couple hours because of customers, but I had the radio on. I finally was able to get caught up on the story between noon and one, and found out that it was a big hoax. I had talked to my older brother, who works with my mom, and all of his friends are like big brothers to me. He told me that he had gotten a phone call from one of his friends, checking to see if I was ok. I couldn’t imagine what the parents of the students actually at school were going through.

- Leslie

It was about nine-thirty in the morning, when I get a random text message telling me not to go to Central. It was from my friend Britni, so I asked her why? She told me the entire school was in lock down, at first I really didn’t think anything of it. I figured it was just a drill, but then I got another text message. This time from Amanda she told me someone had a gun in the school! As I was responding to her my friend Sarah walks through the door. That’s when I realized that it wasn’t a drill.

As I sat on my couch watching everything happen on the news, and talking to all my friends inside the school, I really didn’t know what to think. My mom was on the house phone 24/7, while I was on my cell phone. I am not exaggerating when I say the second my mom hung up the phone it was ringing again. At around twelve I went over to Britni’s house, we sat around watching the news, and listening to the radio. Then Amanda calls, and tells us that the entire thing was a joke! I couldn’t believe that when I heard it, but I was glad that everyone was okay. That is my story for April 17, 2007.

- Kayla

My friend had left school just before the lock down was called. He and a couple of friends had nothing to do so they decided that they should come back to school. They had been gone less than 10 minutes and they couldn’t even get past Albertsons. One of his quotes was, “Did we miss something or was this here when we left?”

While I was in world geography, we had a brief conversation and he said the school was totally surrounded and there was probably a sniper or two on near by buildings. After all of the students were out of the school, we finally got to actually talk and he had filled me in about all of what happed while I was in the classroom for 3 hours. One of the really cool things was seeing the “SWAT” guy’s guns and equipment.

- Shane