Redacted police reports about circumstances surrounding the recent lockdowns at Montezuma-Cortez High School provide insight into what caused the lockdowns and the subsequent police investigation.
On Tuesday, Sept. 17, officer Jarrod Jewell was dispatched to Montezuma-Cortez High School about 11:41 a.m. to respond to reports of a student with a firearm. Although the names of the students were redacted, officers reportedly were told by a grandparent that his granddaughter had said that a student, identified as Suspect 1, had a firearm and was taking it to the school.
The school was put on lockdown after the reports.
When Jewell arrived at the school, he said a group of four students starting running away from him toward Walmart. When he made contact with them, he realized that none of the students had been suspected of having a firearm.
Soon, a group of 10 to 15 students approached Jewell and said that one of the students had a gun and “they were scared.” They told Jewell that the student was wearing a black “Snoop Dogg” hoodie with gold designs, and they last saw him walking toward Walmart.
Two suspects (not Suspect 1) were soon found at Maverik Gas Station and were reported by Maverik employee Stormie Syra.
Southwest Open School then joined MCHS in a lockdown. These students were later released, according to the report.
As Jewell headed back to Walmart, he contacted Suspect 1, wearing the “Snoop Dogg” hoodie. Jewell did not find any weapons on him.
Jewell said he was walking back from grabbing lunch at Walmart when he heard the outside speakers say that the school was on lockdown. Because he couldn’t reenter the school, returned to Walmart.
The student told Detective Buck Woodman that he had left his backpack in the school cafeteria.
Jewell took the student to the Cortez Police Department and contacted his parents so they could be with him during a police interview.
In officer Kristin Cannon’s report from the interview, Suspect 1 told her that he had met with friends in the cafeteria, and they left to get food at Walmart. His friends returned to school first, and when he found that he was locked out of the school, he returned to Walmart because he “didn’t know what to do.”
When Cannon asked if he had run from police, he reportedly said, “No. Cuz I had nothing to worry about. But yes, I was scared because I didn't know what was happening.”
Cannon confirmed with the student that he hadn’t texted his friends to find out what was happening in the building. When she asked if he was worried about his friends, he shrugged and said something about not knowing what was going on.
He also said that he knew the lockdown wasn’t caused by a gas leak, because students would have been taken out of the school instead of being kept inside.
She suggested that he did know why there was a lockdown, but the student reportedly looked at his mother and shrugged, saying “I don’t … I just got there.”
The student’s mother then said they were leaving.
“Alright, well as far as I could tell, he hasn’t done nothing wrong, so we’re going,” she said.
Cannon offered to tell the mother what they had been told regarding her son.
School Resource Officer Karla Ross responded to the high school at 11:41 a.m. to speak with Principal Jennifer Boniface about the alleged threat.
Boniface said a parent had informed administrators that their daughter had been told by her friend that a student had a gun on school grounds.
However, all backpacks in the building were searched during the lockdown, and no weapons were found. Ross said two students and the bathrooms also were searched.
At 12:22 p.m., the school was taken from lockdown to secure status. When the school returned to secure mode, Ross checked the surveillance footage. In the footage, Suspect 1 could be seen going to Walmart without a backpack.
On Wednesday, Sept. 18, police responded to a new possible threat. Cannon arrived about 8:30 a.m. and learned from Ross that a mother had called, saying that her daughter had said a girl was going to “finish what Suspect 1 started yesterday.”
According to the call, the student allegedly had a gun during lunchtime and was going to do something with it at the school. About that time, a student with a backpack (not Suspect 1) set off the metal detector. When a teacher tried to search her bag, she reportedly took it and ran toward Walmart. The school was put in secure status. When officers arrived at Walmart, she was not there.
Two students reportedly told school administrators that they were “scared to be at school today and believed something bad was going to happen.” The students had allegedly been with Suspect 1 the day before, and he reportedly had shown them the gun. Another student told officers that he “hangs out” with the suspected student, who was “going off the rails.”
He said he hadn’t heard from him since the day before, which was unusual. Woodman said Suspect 1’s mother had taken away his phone, so that was likely why his friend hadn’t heard from him. The student also told police that his friend didn’t have suicidal or homicidal ideations, but that he thought he had “stashed” the gun in the field to the east of Walmart.
Officers were provided a screenshot from a post from an unsuspected that said, “Yo, (expletive) really thought it was gangster to shoot up a school bragging about it and (expletive) I hope you get dropped in there.”
During this part of the investigation, officers became concerned that a student who had reported the incident the day before, was missing.
When Cannon called her, she whispered that she was hiding. She had been outside her classroom when the lockdown started, and had hidden. Ross found her and took her to the office.
About 9:33 a.m., a subject from GOAL Academy came forward and said that she had heard that four people planned to shoot MCHS students as they left for lunch.
Officer Jerry Sam went to GOAL to speak with the student. She said a girl she knew had received photos of bullets from another student.
When police talked to the student who had received the photos, she said another student had messaged her a photo of two rifle bullets with no caption. She said she didn’t see the photo at first. She said the student who sent her the photo is an acquaintance, but not a friend. She said sending the photo was out of character.
She said he was “acting kind of weird” during their first period class, and he was on his phone a lot. After the school went on lockdown, she saw the Snapchat he had sent. She immediately told her teacher, thinking she would be a target since he sent her the photo.
She said in a student Snapchat group that there students had commented that four students had weapons. A girl said she saw a gun in the wrestling room.
One message said, “Tomorrow, they’re going to actually try and shoot people.”
Another student told officers that someone had sent her a photo of a “kill list” in the bathroom. Ross checked bathrooms but did not find a list.
Another student reported that messages on an MCHS group chat reported a gun had been found in the wrestling room and another person had found one in the stairs. The group chat also stated that five people were coming to the school to “shoot it up,” and someone had run from the math hall to Walmart.
It was confirmed that two students left the school during the lockdown, but it was not thought to be related to the incident.
Another student, who had been excused from class that morning by his parent, arrived early on a bike at lunch time, and was searched. Officer Kadan Sharp then took him to his guardian’s home and talked with them about the school situation.
Cannon was also provided with a screenshot of an Instagram post that showed a male (not Suspect 1) walking in front of the high school.
The photo had text on it, which said, “Talkin about not arresting bro cause he ‘retarded’ buh this luh (expletive) 2nd time tryna do sum with a pole Cortez PD (expletive) them (expletive) can’t run ones without a gun n y’all gonna let em shoot dis school up already feel it comin’ and “then lul white boys steady runs from me when I try runnin that ones.”
Cannon called the student’s mother, but she said she would have to call her back, as she was with a client.
Because there didn’t appear to be a “direct threat” to students, officers and school administrators devised a reunification plan. Parents provided their ID to officers outside the building, and once it was confirmed that the parent was authorized to pick up their student, an officer or teacher would retrieve the student from class. They would then go through a metal detector and have their bag searched before going to their waiting parent.
Once all students had exited the building, Ross and Sgt. Kurtiss Baumgartner confirmed no students were inside.
The school was secured, and after a search the next morning, on Friday, Sept.20, no weapons were found. School continued as normal on Monday, Sept. 23.
