Updated 11:30 a.m. May 25

The Great Falls Police Department has increased its presence at C.M. Russell High School this morning after the school resource office received information of a potential threat.

As of 11:20 a.m. the Great Falls Public Schools district was evacuating students from CMR to the Pacific Steel and Recycling Four Seasons Arena at Montana Expo Park.

Students who drove to school were being allowed to drive home and take their siblings with them, but not other students, Superintendent Tom Moore said.

Those who walked to school, got rides from others, or rode the bus were being bused to Expo Park where a parent or guardian must pick them up, Moore said.

Parents/guardians must be listed with the district as those who are authorized to pick up their children and must show identification, according to the district.

So far, officials have not said whether the report of someone with a weapon at the school this morning has been substantiated, but officers are interviewing individuals who may have been involved and continuing to investigate.

The shelter in place for Sacajawea, Riverview, Valley View, Skyline and North has been lifted and activities at those schools will resume as normal, Moore said.

All activities at CMR for the day have been canceled.

Moore said it was the last day for seniors and he’ll give an update on those celebrations later.

Otto said that law enforcement agencies are still on scene investigating at CMR and so they didn’t want parents coming to the school to pick up students and further congesting the area.

Moore said that the district has protocols in place for these types of situations that are practiced though they haven’t had to execute those plans often.

“This is our worst nightmare,” Moore said, to have a potential threat at a school.

From this morning’s report: 

GFPD is asking that parents do not come to the school to allow officers to conduct their investigation.

According to GFPD, the threat has not yet been substantiated.

“There have been no shots fired, no kids are under desks. Responding officers are carrying weapons,” according to GPFD.

GFPD investigating threat to CMR High School, arrest made [January 2022]

According to GFPD and Great Falls Public Schools, the following schools are impacted:

• CMR High: lockdown
• Sacajawea: shelter in place
• Riverview: shelter in place
• Valley View: shelter in place
• North Middle: shelter in place
• Skyline: shelter in place

During a Facebook live, Lt. Doug Otto of GFPD, said that information came in this morning that there was someone potentially outside CMR with a firearm near the bus loop.

He said that officers were working to locate the person who gave that information and to determine whether the information was credible.

North Middle student arrested related to Dec. 19 threat [2021]

Multiple law enforcement agencies are on scene, Otto said, including plain clothes officers.

“At this point we have nobody located that has a firearm,” he said. So far, there is no information indicating anyone at the school with a weapon.

Officials were watching security camera footage and searchin the school to determine whether there is an actual threat, he said.

GFPS says threat at CMR was unfounded [December 2021]

Otto asked the public to use GFPD and GFPS Facebook pages for updates and credible information.

He asked the public, “please do not post information that you do not know about.”

GFPD says unfounded threat at GFHS, asks public to rely on official sources [December 2021]

He said some of the videos are of agents in plain clothes with firearms and he’s asking students not to post those videos because it’s causing panic.

To students, Otto asked them to remain calm, not share videos of the scene and “students, you are safe.”

The incident in Great Falls comes one day after a shooting at a Texas elementary school that left 21 dead, including 19 students, according to multiple reports.