Submitted Photo Superintendent Dr. Robert Anderson (pictured) says 30 police officers arrived and were armed at the school on Tuesday.

GOWANDA — After a recent lockdown at the Gowanda Central School District, Superintendent Dr. Robert Anderson described to the Board of Education and the public viewing online the cause of the event and how the process unfolded.

“It was a false alarm, really caused by the fact that we are recently required to use the 716 area code to make outside phone calls,” said Anderson. “Without getting into all the nuance of what we do, it’s very close to how you would actually trigger a lockdown drill in the buildings. … Knowing what I know now, I’m surprised it hadn’t happened earlier.”

The false alarm was triggered around 9 a.m. Tuesday. The school went into lockdown and then transitioned to a shelter in place order before everything was all clear. The school day resumed as usual at 11 a.m. later that morning.

Anderson described the event as “unsettling and unnerving for everybody, and really disturbing for many.” School counselors were made available to help students and staff deal with the traumatic events.

Anderson also shared that when law enforcement and other first responders reacted to the call, they were unaware of what they would encounter when they arrived at the school.

See LOCKDOWN, Page A3

As a result, an estimated 30 police officers arrived and were armed — a detail that Anderson acknowledged made the process more traumatic.

“(Officers) didn’t know what to expect, so they were armed and ready to encounter whatever they may encounter,” Anderson said. “I think that was unsettling for some, and rightfully so.”

Anderson addressed inaccuracies surrounding the incident, stating, “No one was handcuffed, arrested, or taken away.” Anderson also stated that because the district did not immediately communicate what was going on — because they were involved in the lockdown process — various accounts on social media shared inaccurate reports of the incident. “It’s really amazing, being involved in the situation, how the outside gets information that’s completely off base,” Anderson said. “Unfortunately that gap in communication, I believe, is where people fill in missing information with misinformation.”

The district is working toward improving its call identification process in lockdown situations to address false alarms like this in the future and to help direct law enforcement more efficiently in case of an emergency.

“Our number one priority is the safety of everyone in this district — the physical, social and emotional safety of all,” Anderson stressed. “I want to thank all the first responders, all who responded very promptly to our need. It’s good to know that we’re in good hands.”