Classes were disrupted at several Kansas schools on Thursday after reports of threats forced lockdowns, an evacuation and police responses in Bird City, Ransom and El Dorado. At Cheylin High School in Bird City, officials received a phone call around 10:30 a.m. saying a gunman was on the way to the school.
School officials at Cheylin notified local law enforcement and activated crisis emergency plans, and the building was locked down and secured with help from police and emergency response agencies. All students and staff were accounted for and moved to safety, and officials later decided to dismiss school early. Everyone was reunited with parents.
The disruption did not stop there. Western Plains High School in Ransom was evacuated after a threat there, with Ness County EMS, the Trego County Sheriff’s Office, Wakeeney Police Department and Kansas Highway Patrol responding. In El Dorado, police were called at about 11:35 a.m. to investigate a potential threat at El Dorado High School. The district said the concern did not involve the inside of the school, but it locked all doors and notified parents and caregivers out of caution. That situation was resolved about 15 minutes later, and classes continued as scheduled.
Cheyenne County Emergency Management said the Cheylin lockdown was handled “out of an abundance of caution as all threats are taken seriously,” and added that students and staff were immediately moved to safety before the school was dismissed early and reunified with parents. Local law enforcement determined there was no active threat at Cheylin High School, but the incident remains under investigation.
The immediate danger passed quickly, but the day left three Kansas districts dealing with the same problem: threat calls that can empty classrooms, unsettle families and pull police, EMS and highway patrol into school yards within minutes. Cheylin said counseling services will be available to students in the coming days, a sign that the response now shifts from securing buildings to helping children reset after a swatting incident that reached several communities in one morning.
