HURRICANE – Coral Canyon Elementary went into partial lock down Monday afternoon as a standoff between law enforcement officers and an armed driver on I-15 near the Hurricane exit unfolded.
Max Rose, the superintendent of the Washington County School District, told St. George News the police had contacted Coral Canyon Elementary School officials and asked them to place the school on partial lockdown.
“If the police call and say lock down, we lock down,” Rose said.
Rose explained that while a partial lockdown entails keeping the students in school and discourages parents from picking their children up early, the students are allowed to leave at the regular dismissal time. This is because the police feel the incident that originally sparked the partial lock down is “well contained” and will not spillover into the vicinity of the nearby school.
Parents of students at the affected schools are notified of lockdowns via mass-calls, mass text messaging, and notifications placed on the school’s website.
Police began pursuing an evading vehicle on I-15 at 11:30 a.m. The driver stopped near the Hurricane exit near the Coral Canyon Elementary. He has been described as having a gun and being paranoid and has two children with him in the car. This event prompted Coral Canyon’s partial lock down. (See previous story here)
Negotiators are currently on scene.
As of 3 p.m. Monday, the standoff continues.
Copyright 2012 St. George News. This material may not be published or rewritten without written consent.
Why wasn’t there a mass calling to the residents of Coral Canyon as well? We live across the street from the school as well. Everyone who is near something like this should be made aware of things like this.
egads! gadzooks! we must be notified of a non-issue because the news makes us think the sky is falling! Please, your monday-morning indignance is offensive. Had you not read about it you wouldn’t have even known it was going on, and lo and behold, your life would have (just as it actually did) gone on unaffected.
Yikes, speaking of indignance…
Junior, I don’t blame you for being concerned. It’s conscientious citizens like you that make this such a nice area to live in. I’m glad the situation was diffused and no one in your area was harmed.