The Palo Alto High School administration is working closely with the Palo Alto Police Department after a phoned-in threat to Paly was made directly to 911 yesterday afternoon. As of 4:15 p.m. today, there is no update as to who made the phone call or what the motive was.
“The police are conducting their search and their research is an investigation,” Interim Principal Frank Rodriguez said. “We are not up-to-date in terms of their investigation and what they are finding or not finding. They will provide us with information once they know more.”
The Palo Alto Police Department has not made any new announcements regarding the threat, but when new news arises, the Paly administration will send out an update to parents, staff and students, according to Rodriguez.
Rodriguez stressed that students should not spread any rumors or start any.
“Here on campus, there was a rumor that a Paly student was involved and in fact was not,” Rodriguez said. “The things on social media and the things that other students are putting out are pretty hurtful. My request is that students do all they can to stop this kind of rumors.”
Rodriguez said he wanted to thank students for conducting an orderly and calm lockdown.
“One of the things that I thought was pretty amazing is that students took two minutes to get to their classrooms,” Rodriguez said. “There were one or two stragglers, but for the most part, students just got to class and doors were shut.”
For further information about the lockdown, consult The Paly Voice’s reporting on the event yesterday, including our initial story, verbatim student responses and timeline of the event.