PHOENIX — Betty H. Fairfax High School held a private meeting Thursday night for parents and students to discuss a disturbing incident that happened at the school's homecoming dance last weekend. Officials said there was a report of a person with a gun at the dance, but students say they were left in the dark.
Isabel Cardenas is a senior involved in student government. She helped plan the dance.
She said what started as a fun and exciting night for students ended in fear and panic due to a lack of communication.
"A lot of people around me were crying and very upset," Cardenas said.
She recalled the chaos that unfolded Saturday night. She said information shared by school leaders and police does not tell the full story of what she and her peers went through.
“I feel like it's important that you guys hear from students too," Cardenas said. “A lot of adults don't feel like we have the right to speak on things like this when it happens.”
Cardenas said she arrived at the dance at the high school gymnasium around 8 p.m. and within 30 minutes, things changed. When she and her friends went to put their shoes away because their feet were getting tired from dancing, security would not let them leave the gym.
“Security was not only just keeping us in, but also ushering other people in that were maybe in the bathroom or in the lobby," Cardenas recalled.
Students looked out windows to see Phoenix PD. They were responding to reports of a person with a gun.
“I did hear to what could be construed as gunshots, but to my knowledge, they were the bean bag shots that were shot at the suspect who had been detained, but that freaked everyone out," Cardenas said. "I definitely think that people did think that there was an active shooter. I believe I did hear someone yell that there was a gun and then people had started running. So I know everyone was very scared about that.”
Panic ensued.
Some students ran for the doors, exiting into the parking lots. Others were stuck inside.
“People started screaming and running and people had run out of some of the gym doors, but I was trying to get out a separate set of gym doors where there was this big crowd of people and we were all running towards those doors and we weren't able to get out because those doors had already been locked," Cardenas said.
She said scared students still inside the gym were left in the dark both figuratively and literally.
“We don't know why the music turned off, why people were screaming, just the rumors about what had happened, and then police come in with their rifles drawn and flashlights just coming towards us," Cardenas said.
A Phoenix PD spokesperson told 12News when they got to the high school, they were directed by witnesses to two male juveniles outside of the dance. They were detained and police determined they did not have guns.
Police were then told about a third juvenile possibly with a gun. When they found him, police said he was combative and resistant when they tried detaining him. Police used a taser and an officer was injured during the struggle. Police found a "pencil wrapped in cloth and a comb" in his pocket.
That student was referred to the Juvenile Court Center for aggravated assault on a police officer, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.
No gun was ever found.
“And up until this point, we haven't been given any information whatsoever," Cardenas said.
Cardenas said the lack of communication is what is most concerning to her and her peers.
The following day, the high school's principal sent out a letter to families to dispel rumors.
“Still on Thursday, we don't know exactly what happened," Cardenas said.
The high school held a private meeting for students and parents on Thursday to discuss the incident. The school did not allow the public or press inside due to "personal and identifiable information" that could be discussed.
Cardenas said she and her family were disappointed police were not part of the conversation. She said parents were angry but offered feedback as to what they'd like to see the school, district and police change moving forward.
“I hope to hear that we're getting more measures put in place, especially around school dances because I know that we have a lot of security and a lot of and we have a clear bag policy at our football games," Cardenas said. "We have a lot of precautions already in place for sports events, but not enough were taken in this particular instance.”
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