Following reports of gunfire and a campus lockdown, authorities found no evidence of a shooting at Highline College south of Seattle, according to police.
Kent Police Commander Jared Kasner said on the phone that police finished searching the campus and “did not locate anyone injured or evidence of gunshots being fired.” He said police were also not able to confirm rumors that fireworks set off the shooting scare.
Highline College posted on Facebook that the campus is clear and closed for the day.
Just before 9 am, the school posted: “Lockdown – This is not a drill. We have reports of gunfire on campus. Please lock down all offices and classrooms until further notice.” The school has continued to post updates asking people to avoid campus and instructing those on campus to close and barricade doors and windows. Police are currently evacuating buildings on campus, according to the school.
Police from several agencies, including Kent, Federal Way, Renton, and the Washington State Patrol, are responding. Police are directing families seeking information to the Northwest corner of the nearby Lowe’s parking lot.
Standing in the parking lot, Giovan Cervantes, 16, said he was walking to class when the noise went off. He thought they were too quiet to be gunshots. “I was a little scared after what happened in Florida the other day,” Cervantes said. He said his classroom was locked down for about two hours.
Joy Promise said she was driving to school to take a midterm, when she saw a row of emergency cars. She assumed there might be an accident on the road, but then she saw the medical vehicles at Lowe’s. “I thought, ‘That’s way too many medics for an accident.’ And I said, ‘Oh my God, I hope there wasn’t a school shooting at my school,'” Promise said.
She said the school shooting on Wednesday in Parkland, Florida, which claimed the lives of 17 people, was fresh on her mind. “We’re just getting to deal with that and getting to come to school and seeing this immediately, I thought about my classmates, my teachers, my counselors and began to send a prayer out to them,” Promise said, adding that she is considering taking online classes due to recent school shootings.
Shannon Moulder said she drove over here after receiving texts from her daughter, who is a student at Highline. “Honestly, the panic just started sinking in. She said she was in lockdown. No verbal communication was allowed, that she could only text, that she was safe,” Moulder said. She also said she is considering enrolling her daughter in just online classes.
Someone who picked up a non emergency public safety line at the college said that the line is being reserved for emergency calls.
The Seattle Times reached an operator at the school by phone. The operator confirmed the lockdown and told the Times, “I hope I’m here to answer when you call back.”
Developing: Despite large police presence, all law enforcement seems rather relaxed given the report. Again no confirmation of an active shooter. No reports of anyone shot or injured. pic.twitter.com/5N4z1DSc2U
— Alex Rozier (@AlexRozierK5) February 16, 2018
No movement at Highline College. Parking lot packed. #komonews pic.twitter.com/QtLCu1GmtO
— Keith Eldridge (@KeithKOMO4) February 16, 2018
This post will be updated as new information becomes available.
