Click here for a time line of the tumultuous day at Charleston High School

A seemingly normal day at Charleston High School was brought to a screeching halt when police officers from Eastern, Charleston and the state rushed to the school in reaction to an early morning gun threat.

Students and teachers of CHS were alerted by an anonymous source to a potential threat when an alert was sounded over the intercom at 8:45 a.m.

According to a statement from Charleston Superintendent Jim Littleford, the administration was told the calls were made from a phone within the school.

A suspect is currently in custody and has confessed to making both of the prank calls, said Littleford, during an 12:43 p.m. press conference.

Mark Twain Elementary School also was under a lockdown because of its closeness to the high school.

Diane Hutchins, the CHS principal, said she thinks the way the school handled the threat was a reflection on the past drills the students have participated in.

“I felt very confident when I went with the police into each classroom that the procedure had been followed and students were doing what they were supposed to be doing,” Hutchins said.

Hutchins said the school had just had a scheduled lockdown drill early this year.

“When something like this happens we immediately go on lockdown,” Hutchins said. “My first concern (was) for the students and the staff.”

Hutchins said she will be looking for feedback from students and staff on whether the previous drills were applicable during a moment of panic.

Littleford said the reason the school did not alert parents or guardians to threat because of uncertainty.

“We weren’t sure what we were dealing with if we were dealing with anything at that point,” he said.

Stacy Stewart is the mother of CHS freshman Lyndsy Hunt, who was texting her mother throughout the lockdown before Stewart was contacted by the school.

At first, Stewart said she thought that maybe it was a routine school drill until her daughter told her otherwise.

“That’s when we started hearing reports from around town,” Stewart said. “I’m sure they were just trying to keep the kids safe—I think they did everything they should’ve done.”

Stewart said she does feel safe having her daughter return to school on Monday.

“I think they did everything they should’ve done and kept them safe,” Stewart said.

Hunt, a freshman at CHS, said she was scared throughout the ordeal while in her English class.

“We didn’t know if it was real or just a test, then police came in to check if we had weapons and they checked all of the lockers and all of the purses and bags,” Hunt said. “There was nothing to be found.”

Littleford also said both of the results of the search were unfounded.

Lisa Killough had been at the school since 9:10 a.m. to pick up her daughter, but her daughter asked to stay because she was afraid her grades would be in jeopardy.

“She asked to stay because she did not want to miss homework because another student standing in the office said his teacher said it would not be excused and they would not be given make up work,” Killough said.

Killough said against her better judgment she agreed.

After the second call was made at 10:54 a.m., Killough said she tried to get her daughter out a second time, but the office said they did not recommend it.

Killough was eventually able to remove her daughter from school for the day.

Austin Carver, a senior at Charleston High School, was in the gym locker room for about an hour and half during the security lockdown.

“We were all chilling out we were all pretty relaxed—we were taking it seriously, but I think we knew we were OK,” Carver said.

Carver said he thinks the past drills prepared he and his fellow classmates for the events that transpired today.

“We weren’t scurrying around or anything,” he said.

Cindy Drum, Carver’s mother, tells a different story.

Outside the high school, Drum said she was left relatively uninformed about the events going on within the school.

“I was scared to death I really was,” Drum said. “You see on the news about the schools were several kids end up shot—I don’t appreciate (how I was notified).”

Drum was alerted to the potential danger when her friend called her; an hour and a half later she was alerted by a voice-recorded message from the high school.

“I don’t think that’s fair to anyone involved especially the parents,” Drum said. “I knew more from a phone call from a friend than I got from the school, which is not right.”

Drum said she surprised by the way her son was handling the situation

“(Austin) is taking it a lot lighter than what I thought he would,” Drum said.

Drum said she remains very uncomfortable with sending her son back to school if there is not an open line of communication between CHS’ administration and parents.

Drum did not let Carver return into the school for the day.

Kathleen Reuter, the mother of a preschooler, was running late when she got a call to “refrain” from bringing her daughter to the Kermit’s Cove Pre-School in the high school.

Reuter said her daughter’s preschool teacher also called her tell her to keep her at home.

Reuter said she is not confident in the way that the administration handled the incident.

“If they would have let us know that if was an anonymous call and that there wasn’t actually someone in there with a gun, then it wouldn’t have been quite as scary,” Reuter said.

Drum agrees.

Drum also said she thinks the school waiting to notify the parents while students were getting information out caused more panic for those on the outside.

“I think the parents should be notified right away I’m not really picky about the way I am informed, but we need to know,” she said. 

Nike Ogunbodede can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]. 

Alex McNamee and Doug T. Graham also contributed to this article.