JEFFERSONTOWN, Ky. — Several parents at Jeffersontown High School did not send their kids to school Friday, scared away by the recent lockdown.


What You Need To Know

  • Jeffersontown High School was placed on lockdown Thursday afternoon after a former student entered the premises 

  • Some parents keep kids home following the lockdown

  • A JCPS spokesperson said attendance was lower at J-Town High School due to the recent incident

A community is still on edge including mother of three Heather Molina.

On Thursday around noon, LMPD said a former student unlawfully accessed the building at Jeffersontown High School, sending Molina’s teenage son’s school into lockdown.

"He said, 'Mom this is not a drill, answer your phone,'" Molina explained.

Initially, police received reports that the individual entered the building with a gun which sparked a heavy police presence.

After an extensive search, LMPD Spokesperson Beth Ruoff said they did not find any firearms.

"Although there were reports that the individual may have been armed that is unconfirmed, I repeat that is unconfirmed," Ruoff said.

As a result, Molina who has one freshman at J-town and two other kids within JCPS, decided to keep her kids at home.

"You don’t know when you send your kids out the door if they’re coming home or not and that’s sad," said Molina.

JCPS sent out a message to J-Town High School parents to notify them about the incident, but students like 14-year-old Dylan Molina are still visibly shaken.

"All we heard next is this is not a drill. My teacher starts running straight to the door, closes everything, locks it, turns off the light, and we hid in the corner" Dylan said, recalling the tense afternoon.

Molina joined a number of parents who said they were also reconsidering allowing their children to attend in-person learning in the future.

"JCPS offers kids to do virtual and I’m really weighing on virtual learning because I can’t feel safe sending my kids to school anymore," Molina said.

JCPS Spokesperson Renee Murphy said the district followed protocol when responding to the recent incident and took all necessary precautions.

"We know the situation that were in the climate that were in right now in our community and our school responded appropriately," Murphy said Thursday.

Despite reassurances from the district and police that students and staff were safe, attendance was down at J-Town High School Friday according to Murphy.

Even so, parents are still worried. Molina said it's important for police to have more presence on the campuses.

"Things are happening in schools daily. We need more security in those schools," said the mother of three.

In the meantime, school officials said the district will continue working with law enforcement agencies to ensure that schools are a safe learning environment.

"We will have a full review. We will work closely with LMPD, we’ll work closely with Jeffersontown Police as well to determine what happened," Murphy said.

We reached out to Jeffersontown Police Department about an update in their investigation and are awaiting their responses.