Several Salinas schools go into lockdown after reporters of active shooters

SALINAS, Calif., (KION-TV)- Less than a week after a school shooting hoax at Santa Cruz High School, three false reports of active shooters were reported at three Salinas High Schools.

On Tuesday, a heavy police presence could be seen at Everett Alvarez High School.

Leslie Barajas’s mother lives near North Salinas High School, where one of the lockdowns happened. Her sister-in-law was at Rancho San Juan High School when the lockdown happened.

“She had posted her stuff on Snapchat, saying how she was stressed and how she was scared,” said Barajas.

 A traffic stop near Rancho San Juan High School triggered several schools to go on lockdown. But Salinas Police said what happened on Tuesday was not an active shooter hoax.

 “Once the officers made the stop over there, it seemed to trigger some calls, maybe some kids to their parents, to the school district,” said Commander Johnson.

“It all appears to be some kind of communication possibly with kids and their parents or to the school district, over us making that traffic stop at Rancho San Juan. Which triggered into a flurry on responses at the different schools.”

Salinas Police also received reports of shots fired at Salinas Adult School. At all three school sites, police said they found no evidence of an active shooter. 

While no active shooters were at any school site, police still take calls like this seriously. But it does take officers off other cases.

“It does pull away from people being out on the streets,” said Johnson. “Regular citizens will call in for normal issues they might be having and that we need to resolve. Of course, those will have to wait.”

After everything that's happened, Barajas wants to ensure her sister-in-law is doing okay.

Salinas Police told KION there was a lot of overlap between agencies, such as CHP and the Sheriff's Office, which helped respond to all of these incidents. 

The Salinas Union High School District said the lockdowns happened after school and impacted students in after-school activities, including staff on site.