On Friday, the Montezuma-Cortez school district sent a letter to parents regarding the Georgia Apalachee High School shooting that took place Wednesday, addressing concerns and providing details about emergency protocols in the district.
The letter, sent by Assistant Superintendent Eddie Ramirez, provided details of what happened in Georgia, and gave insight into how the district was equipped to protect its students.
The alleged shooter, 14-year-old Colt Gray, was “flagged” by the FBI in 2023 because of reported threats he had made against the school. The FBI investigated Colt Gray and his father, Colin Gray, but there was no probable cause for arrest, so Colt and his father were released. Later that year, according to an article written by CNN, Colin Gray gifted Colt a firearm for Christmas.
Colt Gray has been charged with four counts of murder and is being tried as an adult. He is expected to face additional charges in connection with the nine injured victims. His father, Colin Gray, faces four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children.
Ramirez said the district has trained threat assessment teams in all its buildings, and that they would have conducted their own investigation, separate from local law enforcement, if the district had received a similar report.
The day of the shooting, Colt Gray left the classroom and returned with his firearm to a locked door. He knocked, but one of his classmates saw the firearm and didn’t open the door. He then left and began shooting elsewhere. Two teachers and two students were killed, and nine were injured.
According to Ramirez, all classroom doors in the district are to be locked at all times. Previously, many of the classrooms used magnetic strips that allowed students to reenter the classroom as a way to minimize classroom disruption.
The change to fully locked doors in the district came last year.
“The use of door magnets is not ideal as doors should always be closed and locked to avoid exactly the situation which occurred on Wednesday in Georgia,” Ramirez said. “I am also cognizant of the balance we must strike between the most safety which is possible and the most safety which is practical to your efforts to educate our students. At this time, I continue to recommend all classroom doors are always shut and locked.”
In Georgia, one of the two school resource officers in the building was reportedly responsible for helping stop the shooter. Ramirez told The Journal that the district’s school resource officers, Karla Ross and Peter Schmaltz, carry weapons in case of an emergency, but no staff carry weapons.
The Montezuma-Cortez district has two SROs, and they are “able to respond anywhere very quickly,” Ramirez said. “Deputy Schmaltz is assigned by the Sheriff’s Office to Lewis Arriola and Battle Rock. He can respond to Pleasant View, which is farther north from Lewis Arriola.”
“The SROs have received specialized training in responding to active threats as law enforcement who are alerted instantaneously with the district electronic software that is available to every staff member (E3),” Ramirez added.
The E3 system, Burris and Ramirez said in an interview earlier this year, is available to every staff member and simultaneously alerts emergency personnel.
“All staff, SROs, law enforcement, fire, EMS, Montezuma Cortez Emergency Manager and dispatch are instantaneously alerted electronically through our new mobile Emergent 3 safety application that can be activated by any staff member should there be an event. This includes all of the Charter Schools,” Ramirez said. “Response time is greatly reduced, and the chat feature allows important communication from the District Incident Command Team lead by the Superintendent of Schools. At any time, dependent on the type of event, the first responders can take control of the situation on next steps. All first responders have Emergent 3 in their vehicle laptops. This greatly coordinates all efforts.”
Ramirez emphasized that in the event of a threat, staff are trained to lock and barricade the door and get students out of view of the doorway.
After the Georgia shooting occurred, parents and students were evacuated to the stadium, which was the their “rally point and reunification site.”
The letter said that Montezuma-Cortez district also has a rally point out of sight of the main building and in a location that allows buses to take staff and students to the reunification site. The site is accessible without crossing a main road.
In the case of a police evacuation, students and staff will be taken to buses, then to one of the planned reunification sites.
Ramirez said the sites are chosen on three criteria: the ability to be secured, to accept a large amount of parking and to provide shelter and facilities as well as provide counseling areas, Ramirez said.
The letter went on to explain that the district is also in collaboration with the Montezuma-Cortez emergency manager and Homeland Security as part of a “countywide reunification team model.”
This kind of model allows for administrators and counselors from anywhere in Montezuma County to run any district reunification and for Montezuma-Cortez district to assist with the reunification process of any other school in Montezuma County.
