UPDATE: 5:30 p.m., 12/07/2021
Dear Willamette families and community,
Included below is a summary of what led to a brief lockdown that took place at Willamette High School on Tuesday, 12/7/21.
Just after 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, Willamette High School administrators received a report of a student who was possibly armed with a gun at WHS. Eugene police were notified and immediately responded to WHS within minutes. WHS was placed on lockdown at 3:05 p.m. and Eugene Police located the student who was detained without incident. It was determined at that point that the student did not have a gun. The lockdown was lifted at 3:18 p.m.
It is important to note that there was never a gun on campus.
In addition, today’s lockdown was unrelated to previous gun-related incidents that we have recently communicated about to staff and families.
Students will likely be impacted by this incident in a variety of ways. In an effort to provide care and connection, WHS staff and counselors will be available to meet with students in need of some extra support. We recognize that everyone has different levels of feelings around what happened this afternoon and we welcome students to lean on WHS staff for support.
Please feel free to reach out with questions or concerns.
Alisha Dodds
Communications Director
Bethel School District