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Posted on Fri, May 4, 2012 : 2:09 p.m.

Dexter High School put under lockdown - but not for gunshots

By John Counts

Dexter High School was sent into lockdown once again Friday after reports of gunfire near the campus.

But this time, what sounded like a gunshot turned out to be a classroom experiment.

Dexter-High-School-outside.jpg

AnnArbor.com file photo

“It was a science project that went boom,” said Derrick Jackson, spokesman for the sheriff’s office.

The school community has been on edge about sounds that resemble gunfire after having gone into lockdown twice in the last month for what turned out to be people shooting at targets in the area, Jackson said.

On Friday, deputies from the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to the school at about 1:30 p.m. after hearing reports of what again sounded like gunshots.

The school was briefly sent into lockdown until deputies learned about the science experiment.

Jackson said the teacher who was conducting the science project did not notify the rest of the school that loud, gunshot-like noises would be part of it.

John Counts covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at johncounts@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.

Comments

Vette96drvr

Sat, May 5, 2012 : 2:29 p.m.

FYI, the science teacher DID notify the office of the experiment, the office dropped the ball in "remembering". I have a kid that was in the classroom when this happened. Oh ya, and Trevor, good job with causing a lockdown LOL!

jcj

Sat, May 5, 2012 : 12:03 p.m.

It doesn't matter how you slice it the science teacher should have done things differently!

Vette96drvr

Sat, May 5, 2012 : 2:25 p.m.

My son was in the classroom. The teacher DID alert the office of what was going to be taking place but the office dropped the ball in "remembering".

RJA

Sat, May 5, 2012 : 4:33 a.m.

It's a shame others wern't notifed. Scarey situation!

jcj

Fri, May 4, 2012 : 10:07 p.m.

It would seem to me that the science teacher would have been able to clear everything up BEFORE the sheriff dept showed up! And while the tornado was very traumatic. There is no correlation between the two!

jcj

Sat, May 5, 2012 : 7:55 p.m.

Vette96drvr Thanks for the clarification. I knew the ball had to be dropped some where. Glad to know at least the teacher did the right thing.

Vette96drvr

Sat, May 5, 2012 : 2:25 p.m.

My son was in the classroom. The teacher DID alert the office of what was going to be taking place but the office dropped the ball in "remembering".

Bertha Venation

Fri, May 4, 2012 : 8:14 p.m.

Now, I'm not a rocket surgeon... or the brightest marble in the box, but having a school on a rifle range?.... I just don't quite git.

DennisP

Fri, May 4, 2012 : 11:37 p.m.

No rifle range. Someone set up their own "gun range" in violation of local ordinances. They discovered quickly why it was not a good idea...

RunsWithScissors

Fri, May 4, 2012 : 8:05 p.m.

Heh. Reminds me of when our high school chemistry teacher conducted his own boom-bang experiment. He put a hole in the laboratory sink and a gash in his leg. No one, I repeat no one, came running to the class room. This was mid-70's and folk were a lot less twitchy then. By the way, I never forgot that day's lesson: chemistry is fun stuff.

DennisP

Fri, May 4, 2012 : 11:36 p.m.

Yep! I had a few lab classes where things popped, fizzed and banged all day. In my day, you measured how good a lab was going to be by looking for chemical stains on the ceiling...you knew it was going to be good if they were very colorful... LOL!

g-man100

Fri, May 4, 2012 : 7:11 p.m.

um.. the other lockdown for the target shooting was at the middle school which is a couple miles from the high school. Article makes its sound like it was all at the high school

g-man100

Sat, May 5, 2012 : 12:01 p.m.

Never meant that it should not be taken seriously or that people of Dexter have not been through alot in the last 2 months. I grew up in Dexter, went to school there for my entire education and have several friends who were greatly impacted by the tornado. My point is that the article (as many on MLive) is very misleading in its facts and confusing on what has occurred over the last couple weeks regarding the lock downs.

hail2thevict0r

Sat, May 5, 2012 : 2:28 a.m.

huh7891, it might put you on edge but anyone who lives in the Dexter area tends to hear gunshots all the time from local properties. 0% of the time do I think a crime is being committed. Now since the middle school incident happened within the village limits of Dexter and this newest event happened inside of the high school - I could see some cause for alarm.

huh7891

Fri, May 4, 2012 : 10:30 p.m.

It was near a middle school and two elementary schools..hearing what sounds like gun shots nearby would put anyone on edge....anyone that cares about other human beings that is.....

Ann Dwyer

Fri, May 4, 2012 : 7:29 p.m.

Hey, we just had a tornado! You'd be on edge, too. Plus, the roads are shut down. So, yeah, things are a little stressful right now.

Tesla

Fri, May 4, 2012 : 7:25 p.m.

No. The article makes it sound like everyone in Dexter is a little too on edge.

Dog Guy

Fri, May 4, 2012 : 6:35 p.m.

Well, so much for dread noughts