Thursday, September 7 – MACES.

At around 4:00 p.m. Thursday, MACES campus went into Secure Campus mode due to police activity in the local community. Students were ordered to shelter in place as sheriffs apprehended a Hispanic youth outside the doors of the front office. A former student, the suspect was taken into custody by law enforcement and wheeled into an ambulance. The mode lifted, and students were once again allowed to leave and enter the campus grounds. 

This hasn’t been the first time Secure Campus has been activated. They have been enabled in the past as drills that MACES has during both semesters. However, many students were concerned with Thursday’s incident. As a result, Gabriel Duran, the principal, sent out a phone call Thursday night to inform parents about the lockdown. 

“We have to inform parents every time Secure Campus is activated,” Duran said. 

After Thursday’s incident, Duran mobilized a “support team” for students who may have afflictions or anxiety over the incident, offering psychological help and counseling for anyone who asks.

Of the incident, Duran said it was “Just like the Drills,” and that all staff and students met behavioral expectations during the incident. 

Duran has also heard of the rumors flying around campus, and says that most of them were “not true.” 

“There was no gun when they apprehended him,” Duran said.

He also said that the former student never entered the campus, due to it being completely immunized during Secure Campus.

“The campus is safe. After dismissal, there is only one entrance and exit throughout the whole school,” Duran explained. After school, school staff also patrol the campus to ensure the impregnability of the campus grounds. 

“All of our teachers follow procedure; we practice because if a real emergency happens, we want to make sure all students and staff return home.”