Park Elementary School went into a lockout Tuesday afternoon while the Durango Police Department entered a nearby home with guns drawn.
Police were attempting to find someone inside the house, said Durango Police Chief Jim Spratlen. No arrests were made.
“Based on the person’s history, we felt it safer to lock down Park Elementary School until we were done checking a residence,” Spratlen wrote in an email. “The person was not located in the area, and the school was opened back up.”
Police were working in cooperation with the Colorado State Patrol.
Police asked officials at Park Elementary to go into a lockout at 2:52 p.m., said Durango School District 9-R spokeswoman Julie Popp.
It was about the same time children are released for the day, which meant they were kept inside the school until the lockout was lifted at 3:20 p.m., she said.
A lockout means all doors are locked to prevent anyone from coming in. Classes go on as usual.
Lockdown, the more serious designation, means children are kept inside their classrooms huddled in a corner with the lights turned off.
The school district usually sends a letter home with children informing parents of the situation during a lockout. But because the lockout occurred so late during the day, the district instead issued an emergency notification – a procedure usually reserved for lockdowns, Popp said.
“Because this directly affected pickup, and parents were delayed and wondering what was going on, we did an emergency notification,” she said.
She was unaware of why police asked the school district to lock its doors.
About four police officers, some wearing SWAT gear, entered a house with guns drawn about 3 p.m. at 564 East Fourth Ave. They remained in the house about 15 minutes. They exited without anyone in custody.
shane@durangoherald.com
