Police investigate radio problems during gun scare at Mitchell High School

A Colorado Springs police commander who oversaw the department’s response to a gun scare at Mitchell High School said radio problems were a concern and there will be an investigation into what happened.

Colorado Springs police say that at 11:27 a.m. on Friday, several students reported seeing a juvenile female who was armed with a handgun on campus.The school was methodically searched room by room. No weapons were found, nor was the girl who witnesses said had the gun.

Police said officers had a difficult time communicating with each other inside the school. Officers had to use the school’s radios. There were not enough radios for all officers, so radios were shared among officers working in teams.

During the shooting at Columbine High School in 1999, emergency responders struggled with communication while trying to share an emergency radio channel for the incident. Afterward, there were sweeping changes to radio communication in Colorado and across the nation. Radio communication has improved drastically, but Cmdr. Pat Rigdon said Friday’s incident shows there continues to be room to grow.

Rigdon said “dead zones” happen very infrequently and officers can even communicate via radio as far away as the Denver metro area. Still, Ridgon said “dead zones” can happen, especially with the area’s rock formations.

The department’s staff in charge of radios will go into Mitchell High School in the coming days to pinpoint what caused the problem. Ridgon said the building’s design and structure could have contributed. There were also a large number of cellphone users that could have been a factor.

Still, Ridgon said it’s odd that this happened, because a school resource officer has been operating at Mitchell High School for years and never experienced any “dead zones” for radio communication while in the school.

In a letter sent home to parents, School District 11 said two suspects have been identified in connection with Friday’s incident. No details about those suspects were released. The letter also said there is no information that indicates an active threat to students or staff.

A spokesperson with the school district said the school was operating as usual on Monday.