EK Downing Elementary, 1480 N. Knox Ave., spent about 30 minutes Tuesday morning in emergency response after what appears to have been a family disturbance and reports of shots fired in the neighborhood near the school.
At the initial reports, which came during the morning drop-off, the school called for a lockdown. After gaining more information about the gunshot report, that response was eased to a lock-out. In a lock-out, the school’s entrances are closed and no one is allowed in or out; inside school activities go on as scheduled.
The situation was released at about 8:20 a.m. and school operations returned to normal.
ECISD officials want to thank the Downing staff, students and parents who responded quickly and appropriately to make sure everyone was kept safe, a news release said. ECISD has emergency procedures in place and practices them during the year in order to respond to situations like this. The district also expressed thanks to the Ector County Sherriff’s Office and ECISD Police for their immediate responses and their work to investigate and resolve the situation, the release said.
