The narrator shares three personal anecdotes about experiencing school lockdowns.
The first story takes place in 2016 when the narrator was in their senior year. They were with a friend, "Moose," when the school went into lockdown. The narrator describes a man wearing a mask who was aggressively approaching them. The two friends ran and hid, and the narrator eventually escaped to their car and watched as police arrived.
The second story is not told in the first person but describes a school lockdown where a deranged man was in the building, screaming and trying to break into classrooms. The man eventually broke the window of a classroom door and tried to unlock it, but the teacher used scissors to defend themselves. The police arrived, and the man was arrested.
The third story takes place in a California school where the narrator experienced a lockdown during lunch. A gunshot was heard, and panic set in. The students hid under tables, and the teacher locked the doors and turned off the lights. A student with a gun was seen outside the cafeteria door, and shots were fired at the glass door. The students escaped through side exit doors, and the police arrived soon after. Miraculously, only one girl was wounded, and the shooter was apprehended without being killed.
Here are the key facts from the texts:
1. A school went into lockdown in 2016 during the last week of the senior year.
2. The narrator and his friend, Moose, were in the senior parking lot when they received a text from another friend, Mario, saying the school was going into lockdown.
3. The narrator and Moose entered the school through an unlocked back door and saw red lockdown lights flashing in the hallway.
4. They tried to open the doors to the auditorium, but they were already locked.
5. A man dressed in black and wearing a white mask was seen walking down the hallway towards them.
6. The narrator and Moose started walking backwards and then ran back to the band room.
7. They tried to hide in the music department closet, but the man in the mask found them and tried to open the closet door.
8. The narrator texted Moose to see if he was alright, and Moose replied that he had run back to his car and was safe.
9. The narrator also received a text from Mario saying that a student had been stabbed in the bathroom by a masked man with a blade.
10. The school was evacuated with police escort, and at least ten officers entered the building.
11. The masked man was never found.
12. The incident occurred at a high school in California.
13. The school had regular lockdown drills, but this was not a drill.
14. A teacher announced over the microphone that the school was going into lockdown and ordered everyone to be quiet.
15. A gunshot was heard from across the school, and panic set in.
16. The teacher in charge of the cafeteria yelled at everyone to hide under the tables as he locked the cafeteria doors and shut off the lights.
17. A kid with a gun was seen outside the locked door of the cafeteria, and he started shooting at the glass door.
18. The lunchroom cleared out through the side exit doors, and students ran to their cars or off the school property.
19. Police cars arrived outside the school, and the shooter was apprehended without being killed.
20. Only one girl was wounded in the shooting.