On Tuesday, Oct. 21 at approximately 10:09 a.m., the intercom sounded, alerting the entirety of Franklin High School that they were under a hard lockdown—but why?

Eduardo Mártir, one of the Assistant Principals at FHS, was the one who directed the calls. He said there was one teacher who reported something suspicious in the parking lot, so he insisted that the school be put on lockdown until further notice.

“The report said there was an adult—a suspicious adult—in a car who might have a weapon,” said Mártir.

In an email sent out by Principal Anna Lotti a little after noon, she wrote, “Today there was a report of a suspicious car parked outside of school containing a possible weapon… Out of an abundance of caution, we put the school on lockdown.”

After a police investigation of the car, they were able to discover a gun in the car alongside an accomplice with the driver. Before any action could be taken against them, they fled the campus.

“District police came; they checked the area [and] checked the cameras… to catch the license plate [of the suspicious car],” explained Mártir. “Once we knew the threat was gone, we de-escalated to a soft lockdown, and after we were very sure no one was here, we lifted the lockdown.”

The switching back and forth between hard and soft lockdowns was because, Mártir said, “[There was some] minor miscommunication between district police.”

Once it was determined that the school no longer had a possible threat present, the lockdown was lifted and business went on as usual.