Port St. Joe High School lockdown ends after threat is cleared
As a result of potential safety concerns, Port St. Joe High School entered a code yellow on Friday morning.
As a result of rumors spread on social media, the school entered a code red lockdown for approximately four minutes, according to Jim Norton, Gulf District Schools’ superintendent.
Norton confirmed that at this time, the threat has been handled, and students have returned to instruction as normal.
“Please know that the safety of our students is and always will be our first priority,” a release from the school read. “While there has been some tension between certain groups of students, which is being actively addressed, rumors and social media have misrepresented the situation and complicated our efforts to control it.”
“There is currently no cause for alarm… However, if at any moment that status changes, parents will be informed immediately and factually,” it continued. “We can confirm the safety of all students and staff on campus at this time.”
Law enforcement vehicles were present at the school.
This report will be updated as more information becomes available.
Meet the Editor
Wendy Weitzel, The Star’s digital editor, joined the news outlet in August 2021, as a reporter covering primarily Gulf County.
Prior to then, she interned for Oklahoma-based news wire service Gaylord News and for Oklahoma City-based online newspaper NonDoc.com during her four years at the University of Oklahoma, from which she graduated in May with degrees in online journalism and political science.
While at OU, Weitzel was selected as Carnegie-Knight News21 Investigative Fellow among 30 top journalism students from around the country. She also was senior editor managing a 12-person newsroom in coordination with Oklahoma Watch, a non-profit news organization in eastern Oklahoma.