A 17-year-old Gilroy High School senior named Jimmy huddled
under his desk Friday, after a threat against a teacher’s life put
the 2,900-student campus in lockdown for hours.
GILROY –– A 17-year-old Gilroy High School senior named Jimmy huddled under his desk Friday, after a threat against a teacher’s life put the 2,900-student campus in lockdown for hours.
“We’re sitting on the floor waiting for the all clear,” he said from his cell phone. “I’m pretty scared.”
Jimmy, who did not want to give his last name, said he could see police with guns roaming the campus.
Fear gripped students who had little information and were not allowed to leave their classrooms. Lights were turned off, and students were on the floor or under their desks because they were not supposed to be visible from the windows.
“I have no idea what’s going on,” said senior Shanna Aldridge about 45 minutes after the lockdown began. “I’m just kind of scared because there’s a lot of cops and someone said the SWAT team’s here.”
Shanna said students in her economics class located in portable classrooms at first thought the lockdown was a drill. They soon learned it wasn’t, and she said students were keeping busy by doing homework while they waited for an end to the lockdown.
“We’re just trying to stay calm,” she said.
Students who had cell phones called their parents to let them know they were OK. Shanna sent her mother a text message from her cell phone earlier reading: “We are all OK. They have a lot of cops here. We’re safe, and I love you.”
Carleen Aldridge, Shanna’s mother, was in San Jose when she got a call from Shanna, her oldest daughter. Aldridge’s younger daughter also attends the school.
“I’m concerned,” she said from her cell phone as she headed back to Gilroy. “But after talking to her again, I feel better.”
Michelle Zappa, a 17-year-old junior, said students in her ceramics class near the clock tower were frightened as well. They were keeping busy by playing cards about 20 minutes after the lockdown began.
“I’ve never been in school when this happened before,” she said.
Deseree Baca, a ninth-grader at GHS, was late for school and the lockdown prevented her from going onto campus.
“It’s sort of weird,” she said. “We didn’t expect this from this school. None of the students look like that. Most people are happy here.”
Jerrica Dexter, a GHS senior who was also late to school, stood across the street and watched the campus along with 30 other students, parents, neighbors and television crews. Rumors filtered through the crowd as people waited for more information.
“Of course, I’m worried about everybody who’s on campus,” she said. “I didn’t think anybody at GHS would be capable of doing this.”
Colleen Valles is the Lifestyles Editor at The Gilroy Dispatch.
