Manson Schools go into Lockdown on Monday

School staff had recently taken ALICE Training to enhance student safety

by Loni Rahm

This has been a busy week for Chelan County Deputy Sheriff Nigel Hunter, the school resource officer who splits his time between Chelan and Manson Schools.

Following a story published on LakeChelanNow this morning about a threat investigated at Chelan High School last night and into the morning, we learned from one of our community partners about the Manson School lockdown on Monday.

Matt Charlton, Manson School Superintendent, confirmed that around 1 p.m. Monday, the district office received a phone call from Rivercom requesting the schools go into lockdown. Law enforcement officers were investigating a report of someone carrying a gun on Totem Pole Road in Manson. No actual threat was made to the facility or students, but given the proximity of the schools, they asked both schools to lockdown as a precaution.

Charlton indicated they got the “all clear” from Rivercom dispatch about 20-25 minutes later once the issue was resolved.

“The staff and students were incredible,” said Charlton. “They took it very seriously.”

Ironically, all Manson staff recently participated in ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) training which better prepares school staff to more proactively handle the threat of an armed intruder or active shooter event. Charlton didn’t expect to utilize that training quite so quickly, but he was thankful they had.