Threat prompts two school lockdowns

A Fulton Police Department car outside of Fulton Middle School.
A Fulton Police Department car outside of Fulton Middle School.

A threat to Fulton Middle School caused the school to go on lockdown from 10:54 a.m. Monday until students were released.
Chief Steve Meyers of the Fulton Police Department said the threat was taken very seriously by administration and law enforcement officials.
"We aren't releasing information yet. It was a phone threat that was called into the middle school," he said. "School administration and the police department thought the threat was credible."
The threat, Meyers said, was not just limited to the middle school. Bush Elementary School also was under lockdown.
"There was a connection to Bush School, as well," he added. "We had officers at both buildings until school is out."
According to a news release from Fulton police, middle school officials received a call from a man who said he was coming to school to see his kids, and he was coming armed with a gun. The threat is a continuation of a domestic violence situation which occurred over the weekend. The suspect lives in Jefferson City.
"If it's the suspect we think it might have been, it wasn't a parent," he added.
According to Fulton School District Community Relations Director Karen Snethen, the suspect had still not been located, but school officials decided to let students out at the scheduled time.
"After consulting with various law enforcement agencies, it was determined that the person of interest was not in the Fulton area," she said. "The decision was made to have a regular dismissal at the regular time with significant police presence."
The middle school also canceled all after school activities.
Beth Houf, principal of the middle school, said parents can sign up with the district's alert system to receive information during emergency situations.
"When we have emergencies, email and School Messenger will be our main form of communication," she said. "I will not post lockdown information on social media."
Parents can find information about the emergency notifaction system at www.fulton58.org.