Parents waited anxiously for children to be dismissed
Sep. 22—WILLIMANTIC — Amidst a lockdown at Windham High School Wednesday morning, a large group of parents and other family members waited anxiously for the students to be dismissed.
" I'm hoping there's nothing serious going on there that they aren't telling," said Willimantic resident Barbara Garcia, whose daughter, Arianna Lopez, is a freshman at Windham High.
She said she talked to her daughter and she was fine.
Garcia said she understands that police could only release limited information, but that is " scary" for parents because they don't know if what their children are telling them is accurate.
Windham High 12th grader Wilson Ramos said it was a "regular day" before the lockdown.
He said initially, students thought it was a drill because they were supposed to have a drill soon.
" Some of my classmates were a little freaked out," Ramos said, adding that some teachers were also " freaked out." He said he stayed calm, however.
Ramos said students were communicating with each other and parents via group chats.
Willimantic resident Evelyn Diaz said she had just come home from working third shift at her job.
" I am taking my kids
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Waiting parents express concerns about school security
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out of school for the rest of the week," she said.
Diaz said she felt there needed to be more security measures in place at Windham High, including metal detectors.
Milady Morales, a medical assistant who works for Hartford HealthCare, said her son was walking to Windham Middle School because he missed the bus.
He said her son got to the school and staff wouldn't let him into the building because of the lockdown. As a precaution, all of the schools in the district were placed into lockdown.
Morales left work to pick up her son at the middle school and later went to the high school, where her son is in 12th grade. She said she would be "happy" once she had her highschooler in her arms.
Morales said she got an e-mail from school staff at 8:38 a.m., 14 minutes after her son notified her about the incident. She said parents weren't notified about the situation soon enough.
" I don't trust them," Morales said.
Morales said she felt there needs to be more security measures in place at Windham Middle School and Windham High. She claimed the middle school gym doors are often propped open.
Morales also said there should be metal detectors at the high school.
Yuridia Gonzalez, who was outside Windham High with her sister, Sandra Gonzalez, said they didn't receive a lot of information about the incident.
Sandra Gonzalez's son, Efren Galicia, is a student at Windham High School.
The sisters left work to go to Windham High.
" It was very scary," Yuridia Gonzalez said, noting that she heard "rumors."
Follow Michelle Warren on Twitter — @ mwarrentc.
