By Marty Mayfield
KRTN Multi-Media
About noon Tuesday afternoon September 17, 2024, things turned chaotic for Raton Schools as Raton High School went on lockdown while Longfellow and Raton Intermediate schools were placed on a shelter in place status.
In a release from Raton Schools Superintendent Kristi Medina there was a report of a possible shooting at Raton High School. As result the school’s lockdown procedure was implemented with law enforcement quickly responding to the high school. As a precaution Raton Intermediate and Longfellow schools implemented shelter in place protocols. As part of the protocol police went through the school room by room to determine that there was no on-going threat.
Raton Police Chief John Garcia told KRTN that an online threat had been received and was being investigated. Currently (7:00 p.m. September 17, 2024) the incident is still under investigation and no arrests had been made.
Small numbers of Raton High students were being released to parents and guardians around 4:30 p.m. from Tiger Gym. Parents were required to have id and be on the emergency contact list for each student. Parents entered the campus from the main entrance and after retrieving their student proceeded out the west exit by the tennis courts. Law Enforcement were allowing only a few parents in at a time to control the pickup of students.
Students at RIS and Longfellow were also released to their parents sometime after 3:00 p.m. Tuesday afternoon.
There will be no school Wednesday September 18, 2024, for all Raton school students. Students should return to school on Thursday September 19. According to Medina counselors will be available at the school on Wednesday after 9:00 a.m. should a student need those services.
This was one of several incidents that have been reported in the area. Dalhart Texas police recovered a loaded weapon on school grounds this afternoon and as a result of that and other social media posts about school shootings on September 18, 2024, both the Clayton schools and Boise City Oklahoma schools will have increased security around the schools for the next day or so. In Albuquerque it was reported that police found a loaded weapon in a backpack at Volcano Vista High School.
We will post more information as it becomes available.
