First Coast High School has ‘controlled dismissal’ after being on lockdown due to shooting threat

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — An anonymous call 911 call “threatening a shooting at the school,” led to a lockdown at First Coast High School on Thursday, Duval County Public Schools said in communication to parents.

Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Assistant Chief Chuck Ford said police responded to the threat and initiated a lockdown at 11:30 a.m.

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Ford said DCPS was notified at 11:32 a.m. of the lockdown.

A mutual aid lockdown was initiated at 11:39 a.m., Ford said. This notifies the Florida Highway Patrol and Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department to respond and assist.

DCPS said law enforcement conducted, “a thorough search of the school and reviewed security camera footage. Nothing of concern or alarm has been discovered.”

A post-lockdown safety search was conducted with drone units, helicopters and K9 officers, Ford said, and no threat was found.

The school did “controlled dismissal” at the normal 2 p.m. dismissal time.

DCPS said this means that the dismissal process “will be slower and take more time than normal.” Here are the messages that DCPS sent to parents:

First Communication

Hello First Coast High School families, this is Duval County Public Schools calling. First, I want to assure you that all students and staff are safe. Again, all students and staff are safe.

However, the school is on lockdown. It has been reported that the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office received an anonymous phone call threatening a shooting at the school. JSO and Duval County School Police are on campus investigating this report. I remind you that while the school is on lockdown, no one is allowed to enter or leave the school, so please do not come to the school at this time. We will continue to keep you updated. Again, do not come to the school at this time and we will keep you updated. Thank you and I will call back if there is any additional information to share. Good-bye.

Second Communication

Hello First Coast families this is Duval County Public Schools calling with an update. I want to reassure you again that all students and staff remain safe. Again, all students and staff remain safe.

In collaboration with law enforcement, we have conducted a thorough search of the school and reviewed security camera footage. Nothing of concern or alarm has been discovered. However, in an abundance of caution, we are going to remain in a lockdown status and implement a controlled dismissal. We will also continue to have additional law enforcement personnel on campus. We do ask, again, that you do not come to the campus at this time. If you would like to come and pick up your child at dismissal time, which is 2 p.m., you may do so. While we will control students released to exit the building, we will follow normal traffic patterns for car lines and bus lines.

Again, please do not come to the campus now, but feel free to come at dismissal if you want to do so. We will follow normal traffic patterns and release students in a controlled manner. That means that the dismissal process will be slower and take more time than normal, so please be patient. Thank you for your patience and cooperation as we take the steps necessary to keep our students and staff safe.

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Third Communication

Hello First Coast families, this is Duval County Public Schools calling one more time.

Principal Fluent asked me to call to let you know that, because of this situation, all after school activities are canceled. Again, all after school activities are canceled. So, the key points for now are these: 1. Everyone is safe. 2. After school activities are canceled. 3. The school will implement a controlled dismissal. 4. And finally, if you come to the school for dismissal, follow normal traffic patterns and please be patient. It will take some additional time, while we take the steps to keep everyone safe during dismissal.

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From the desk of Principal Fluent

Hello First Coast High School families, this is Principal Fluent.

I just want to call and share my appreciation for you and for your cooperation during the events that impacted our afternoon.

I know that you are probably just as frustrated as we are when we have to deal with a threat, but we will always take the steps necessary to maintain a safe campus environment for our students.

As was mentioned in previous calls from the district, nothing actually happened .. or was found … or was seen on campus that would cause you any concern.

JSO responded to an anonymous phone threat, and based on that we went into lockdown and investigation mode to ensure the safety of everyone here.

We did do a controlled dismissal, and I greatly appreciate the role many of you played to ensure we could get everyone out of school and home safely.

Again, I couldn’t be more appreciative of you and how our students and staff handled this situation. I hope you enjoy the long 4-day weekend, and that we can return on Tuesday to the important academic work and all the other activities we have for your children here at First Coast. Thanks again for your support and have a great weekend.

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