Key West The Newspaper

The Sheriff’s Office has finished checking Coral Shores High School room by room as of 10 a.m. and has found no sign of any suspicious person or suspicious activity. The incident at the school started when a report was received at 7:48 a.m. of a possible armed subject seen at the school. The School Resource Officer assigned to the school worked with school administrators to initiate a lock down of students and teachers and then immediately began searching, beginning with the media room where the armed subject was reportedly seen. More law enforcement arrived and a room-by-room search took place to make sure there was no danger. No sign of any armed suspect was found. The lock down at the school has been lifted. School administrators have said the school will remain open, but parents can pick up their kids if they wish to.

The Sheriff’s Office trains at area schools for just such a situation and this response was accomplished quickly, safely and completely due in large part to that training. While the Sheriff’s Office is aware of how frightening such an incident is to the community at large – especially parents of children in school – everyone should be aware of how all the agencies involved in this response worked together to ensure the safety of our kids. The Sheriff’s Office, Fire/ Rescue, paramedics and school district personnel were in constant contact and communication to ensure we were all doing what we could do to expedite the situation.

“We are, of course, relieved that this turned out to be a false alarm but it is important we all treat any report seriously,” said Sheriff Rick Ramsay. “The safety of children in our schools and our community remains the highest priority to all of us here at the Sheriff’s Office.”