‘It was kind of scary’: Lockdown lifted at Las Vegas middle school as reports of weapon ‘unsubstantiated’
One child was detained and released after police investigated reports of someone with a gun at a central Las Vegas middle school on Friday after a social media threat, police and school officials said.
Roy W. Martin Middle School, on North 28th Street at Sunrise Avenue, had gone into a lockdown but that was lifted after reports of a weapon on the campus were found to have been “unsubstantiated,” school officials said in a message to school families.
Officers with the Metropolitan Police Department and Clark County School District Police Department responded to the school, near Eastern Avenue and Interstate 11, also known as U.S. Highway 95, at 12:40 p.m., police said.
Deborah Thaggard, the school’s principal, said in messages to parents on ParentLink, the school district’s system that it uses to communicate with school families, that a social media threat was made against the school.
In an email just after 2 p.m. Friday, Metro said that police had detained one person and there was no longer any threat to the school. Police added that no injuries were reported.
At just after 3 p.m. on Friday, some buses were seen leaving the school, though eighth-grader Mia Diaz, 13, said she wasn’t able to find the bus she normally takes.
When the lockdown was issued, Mia said students in her classroom were told to huddle in a corner of the room.
“It was kind of scary,” Mia said. “It was my first time going through something like this, so it was shocking and surprising. They just told us to sit down and be quiet. I was nervous. Everyone was quiet.”
Because Sabrina Diaz, Mia’s mother, noticed that her daughter failed to return home at the normal time following the school day, she went to the school. She was able to reunite with Mia in the school’s main office.
Sabrina said she wasn’t aware of any messages the school sent out about the lockdown before she arrived there Friday afternoon.
“I called the office and I got nothing,” Sabrina said. “I’m scared for the kids. It seems like a lot of kids in Las Vegas are used to things like this now.”
Messages from the school to school families later Friday afternoon said Metro and school district police detained a child for questioning and that they were released.
“Today, police placed our campus on lockdown out of an abundance of caution due to a rumored threat against the school,” said the message to school families. “LVMPD and CCSD Police investigated and detained a juvenile for questioning. That individual was later released. Reports of a weapon on campus were unsubstantiated.”
Contact Spencer Levering at slevering@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0253. Contact Bryan Horwath at bhorwath@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BryanHorwath on X.
