'I Was Terrified': Denver Students & Parents Filled With Panic After Possible Weapon Found On School Campus
DENVER (CBS4) - After recent mass shootings in Texas and Buffalo, fears ran high at Northfield High School in Denver after students were placed on lockdown on Thursday. Others ran as word spread of a possible gun inside the school.
"I was terrified. A lot of my friends were texting 'I love you. I hope you are okay. Are you safe?'" said Sabrina Vagi, a student.
She hid outside for three hours. Police in camouflage scoured Northfield. Two people were taken into custody in building three near the gym where police found what they called a paint gun.
A photo from a security camera circulating on social media showed a man with the paint gun chasing another person.
Jeremiah Lopez described it as good-natured mischief.
"It was friends, all friendly. It shouldn't have been done in school, but it was all friendly."
Still, parents were terrified and rushed to the school. They were told to meet their children at a bus barn. There they filled out identification forms and waited anxiously for their students.
The kids were kept in a fenced off area after being bused from the school. CBS4 met Emily Gerson searching for her son.
"I really didn't know what to do. I cried. I called my husband and tried to get information."
She was able to find her son, Alex, on the other side of a fence.
"It's really bad that it happens two days after 19 kids were killed in Texas," she said.
There was understandable emotion as the parents and children were eventually reunited. What happened here ended safely, gratefully, without another horrible repeat of what has been far too common across Colorado and America.
Two suspects were taken into custody. As of 6:30 p.m., DPD says the juvenile males were released to their parents and charges could still be filed.