San Dieguito Academy was placed on lockdown at 1:55 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 21, in response to reports from the sheriff’s office that there was a shooter nearby, according to Principal Tim Hornig. 

Students were instructed to go inside classrooms, and teachers locked all classroom doors. A helicopter was seen searching the campus and surrounding area, and  MacKinnon Street was blocked by several police cars.  

“The sheriff’s office called and told us there was a ‘shooter’ in an area close to I-5 and that we should institute a lockdown as a safety precaution,” said Assistant Principal Jeanne Jones.

The sheriff called and told school officials that they could lift the lockdown at 2:25 p.m, according to Hornig.

“I’m quite certain [the police caught the shooter], otherwise they would not have released the school,” said Jones.

All teachers and students complied with the lockdown order, and all students were safely inside a classroom during the lockdown, said Jones. Superintendent Ken Noah came to the campus to assist the administration with the lockdown, according to Jones.

“The staff was excellent, and the students too. The students have a lot of responsibility in this kind of situation. I want to commend them,” said Hornig.

 “It’s funny, we were supposed to have a lockdown drill on Monday, Sept. 26. I think  that was as good as a lockdown drill right there,” said Hornig.  Hornig is unsure if the scheduled drill will be canceled, but believes so.

Teachers reacted to the lockdown in a variety of ways, but most chose to continue teaching their classes. 

 “I had a student getting extra help [during a prep period], and I locked him in and didn’t let him leave. I heard the helicopter circling and I figured someone was on the run,” said math teacher Paul Brice.

“All the speech and debate kids had to hide behind bookshelves [in the library] with their laptops. We weren’t going to let a lockdown let us lose first place at Long Beach next month,” said English and debate teacher Barry.

Students had mixed reactions to the lockdown.  Many were not worried because of past lockdowns the school has had.

“I was really pissed because I wanted to leave. I thought to myself, nothing ever happens at this school. We always have these lockdowns,” said junior Nicole Sinno, who has a free fourth period. 

 “I wasn’t really scared because we have lockdowns a lot here, so it’s kind of a normal thing for me. I was outside and then I saw [campus supervisor Leslie England]  go ‘Go! Everybody get inside!’ Thank God we have Facebook here,” said sophomore Talynn Mason.

“I was sitting in the library. I walked behind a bookshelf and sat down. I wasn’t scared – I was hoping it would be a long lockdown,” said sophomore David Martinez.

“I hid under the desk at first, but then we had a dance party because there were only five people in the [debate] room,” said senior Michelle Xu.

Staff writers Charlotte Ohrbom and Joey Kobara contributed to this article.