Police reports on school closures reveal a whirlwind of rumors, but no weapons

There were many reports from students, many of which could not be confirmed

Redacted police reports detailing the circumstances surrounding the recent lockdowns at Montezuma-Cortez High School provide insight into the causes of the lockdowns and the subsequent police investigation.

First lockdown

On Tuesday, September 17, Officer Jarrod Jewell was dispatched to Montezuma-Cortez High School at approximately 11:41 a.m. to respond to reports of a student with a firearm. Although the students’ names were redacted, officers were reportedly told by a grandparent that his granddaughter had said that a student, identified as Suspect 1, had a firearm and was bringing it to school.

Following the reports, the school was locked down.

When Jewell arrived at school, he said a group of four students ran away from him toward Walmart. When he contacted them, he discovered that none of the students were suspected of possessing a firearm.

Soon after, a group of 10 to 15 students approached Jewell and said 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 patterns and that they last saw him walking toward Walmart.

Two suspects (not Suspect 1) were soon found at the Maverik gas station and reported by Maverik employee Stormie Syra.

Southwest Open School then joined MCHS in a lockdown. Those students were later released, according to the report.

When Jewell returned to Walmart, he contacted Suspect 1, who was wearing the “Snoop Dogg” hoodie. Jewell found no weapons on him.

Jewell said he had just returned from a lunch at Walmart when he heard the outside speakers say the school was on lockdown. Unable to re-enter school, he returned to Walmart.

The student told Detective Buck Woodman that he left his backpack in the school cafeteria.

Jewell took the student to Cortez police and contacted his parents so they could be with him during a police interview.

In Officer Kristin Cannon’s report on the interview, Suspect 1 told her that he met friends at the cafeteria and they went to get food at Walmart. His friends returned to school first, and when he found he was expelled, he returned to Walmart because he “didn’t know what to do.”

When Cannon asked if he had been running from police, he reportedly replied, “No. Because I didn’t have to worry. But yeah, I was scared because I didn’t know what was going on.”

Cannon confirmed to the student that he had not been texting 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 he knew the lockdown was not caused by a gas leak because students were taken out of school instead of being held inside.

She suggested he knew why there was a lockdown, but the student reportedly looked at his mother, shrugged and said: “I don’t know… I just got here.”

The student’s mother then said they were leaving.

“Okay, as far as I could tell he didn’t do anything wrong, so let’s go,” she said.

Cannon offered to tell the mother what she had been told about her son.

School Resource Officer Karla Ross reported to the high school at 11:41 a.m. to speak with Principal Jennifer Boniface about the alleged threat.

Boniface said a parent notified administrators that her daughter learned from her friend that a student had a gun on school grounds.

However, during the lockdown, all backpacks in the building were searched and no weapons were found. Ross said two students and the bathrooms were also searched.

At 12:22 p.m. the school was moved out of lockdown and into safe status. When the school went back into secure mode, Ross reviewed the surveillance footage. In the footage, Suspect 1 was seen walking to Walmart without a backpack.

Second lLockdown

On Wednesday, September 18, police responded to a new possible threat. Cannon arrived around 8:30 a.m. and learned from Ross that a mother had called and said 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 lunch and wanted to do something with it at school. At about this 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 has been placed on safe 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 reportedly been with Suspect 1 the day before and he had reportedly shown them the gun. Another student told officers that he was “hanging out” with the alleged student who was “unhinged.”

He said he hadn’t heard from him since the day before, which was unusual. Woodman said Suspect 1’s mother took his phone away, which was likely the reason his friend had not heard from him. The student also told police that his friend had not had suicidal or homicidal thoughts, but that he believed he had “hidden” the gun in the field east of Walmart.

Officials were provided a screenshot of a post by an unknown person that said, “Yo, (expletive) really thought it was a gangster to shoot up a school while bragging about it and (expletive) I hope that.” you get thrown 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 at the start of the lockdown, hiding. Ross found her and took her to the office.

At about 9:33 a.m., a GOAL Academy subject came forward and said she heard four people were planning to shoot MCHS students as they went to lunch.

Officer Jerry Sam went to GOAL to speak with the student. She said a girl she knew received photos of bullets from another student.

When police spoke to the student who received the photos, she said another student sent her a photo of two bullets without a caption. She said she didn’t see the photo at first. She said the student who sent her the photo was an acquaintance but not a friend. She said sending the photo was out of character.

She said he “acted kind of weird” during her first class and was on the phone a lot. After the school went into lockdown, she saw the Snapchat he sent. She immediately told her teacher, thinking she was a target since he sent her the photo.

She said in a student Snapchat group, students there commented that four students had guns. One girl said she saw a gun in the wrestling room.

One message said: “Tomorrow they will actually try to shoot people.”

Another student told officers that someone sent her a photo of a “kill list” in the bathroom. Ross checked the restrooms but didn’t find a list.

Another student reported that messages in an MCHS group chat reported that a gun was found in the wrestling room and another person found one on the stairs. The group chat also said that five people came to the school to “shoot up” and that someone ran from the math hall to Walmart.

Two students were confirmed to have left the school during lockdown but this was not believed to be related to the incident.

Another student, who had been excused from class by his parents that morning, arrived early on his bike at lunchtime and was searched. Officer Kadan Sharp then took him to his guardian’s home and spoke to them about the school situation.

Cannon was also provided a screenshot of an Instagram post showing a man (not Suspect 1) running in front of the high school.

On the photo was text that read, “I’m talking about not arresting my brother because he’s ‘retarded,’ but this luh (expletive) 2nd time I try to buzz with a pole.” Cortez PD (expletive) They (expletive) can’t walk without this.” One gun and you’ll all have them shooting at the school until you feel it coming and “then some white boys keep running in front of me away if I try to run into them.”

Cannon called the student’s mother, but she said she had to call her back because she was with a customer.

NO Weapons or Danger found

Since there appeared to be no “direct threat” to the students, officials and school administrators developed a reunification plan. Parents presented their identification to officers outside the building, and once it was confirmed that the parent was authorized to pick up their student, an officer or teacher removed the student from class. They then went through a metal detector and had their bag searched before heading to their waiting parents.

After all students exited the building, Ross and Sgt. Kurtiss Baumgartner confirmed there were no students inside.

The school was secured and no weapons were found during a search the next morning, Friday September 20th. On Monday, September 23rd, school operations continued as usual.

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