A hoax call placed Clovis school on lockdown. Here’s how students handled it
More than 100 elementary students were preparing to attend a Leadership Summit at Clovis High School last week when police received an anonymous call threatening a school shooting at the campus.
“When we were walking there, I was looking forward to actually having fun, getting up and moving around and playing games. But obviously that didn’t happen,” said Kimberly Millspaugh, a Clovis Elementary sixth-grader.
At about 9 a.m., Clovis police ordered a lockdown and officers rushed guns drawn to the campus to search classrooms, one by one. For two hours, the 120 elementary kids invited to attend the summit were stuck inside a Clovis High gymnasium, along with 35 Clovis High students.
The call ended up being a hoax and the lockdown lifted after about two hours. Over that time, some students stuck inside the gym grappled with confusion before exhibiting a calm composure with the help of older students.
The school was initially advised to “shelter In place,” according to Megan Evans, an advisor at Clovis Elementary, but it quickly became a lockdown.
“We knew immediately that this was a situation. There was an announcement that this was, in fact, a lockdown, so we went into that mode,” Evans said. “We had very minimal lighting in the gym, so kids responded with that. They were respectful of that.”
Evans said students knew what to do because they practiced this situation. There was no crying or screaming. Even though there were kids as young as in fourth grade, they did not panic, Evans said.
“They knew it was serious, because it was out of the norm of the amount of time,” she said.
Millspaugh said she was scared when the lights turned off after the principal announce a lockdown over the intercom.
“But then everybody was like, ‘You’re fine, you’re safe,’” Millspaugh said. “It was a lot more different than the drill. It was two hours long. It took forever, and everybody was asking how long when it first started. I thought it was just gonna be like doing a drill, and then it stretched on and on and on.”
Amos Mitchell, a sixth grade student at Clovis Elementary, said he and fellow students kept quiet during the lockdown.
“My first reaction was being a little bit worried and confused about what was happening,” Mitchell said. “I was thinking when this would be over, and how long it would take. I thought we were definitely safe, since they told us the gym, which is where we were, is the safest place.”
Sally Kirchner, activity director at Clovis High, told The Bee that the school created the leadership conference last year. The aim is to help train student leaders throughout the Clovis High area by building bonds and connections and prepare them for the high school.
The half-day event was set to feature lessons and games, Kirchner said. Her high-school students planned three main themes for the lessons: integrity, responsibility and initiative.
High-school students were leading the primary school children in icebreaker games at their assigned tables while other schools were checking in. The lockdown was announced just as the last elementary school student had finished signing in.
“It was really unexpected. I mean, even if the kids weren’t there, obviously we would be scared anyway,” said Corbin Hofmann, a Clovis High student. “But I think trying to keep ourselves calm, while also being charge of these kids. It’s our job to keep them calm and tell them that it’s going to be okay.”
Hofmann said his mind shifted pretty quickly from doing the conference to ensuring everyone’s safety when he heard the lockdown announcement. It is the most serious situation that could happen on campus, he said.
“When the intercom went on, and hearing it repeating ‘This is not a drill.’ It kind of hits you,” said Hofmann. “It’s like, you’re stunned for a second, but then you realize, this isn’t a practice, this is the real thing.”
There weren’t many hiding spot inside the gym, Kirchner said. The organizers directed students to sit at tables in the corners of the gym so they can be hidden from any outside view.
During the two-hour lockdown, high school students tried to keep the younger kids calm and entertained.
“We just let them know that everything was going to be okay. We had plenty of adults in there, so they felt safe, I know that,” said Jordan Cheney, a Clovis High student. “We just kept their mind off of it. We actually started going through our lessons, and then we played some games very quietly.”
Cheney said the kids on her team played a game of “telephone,” in which one player whispers a secret phrase to another.
“There’s only so much you can do, but I feel like they were able to improvise, like they were able to come up with quiet games to keep themselves entertained,” Hofmann said.
Kirchner said she’s proud of her students for how they handled the situation.
“They did such a great job taking care of these young kids and they walked away with these connections with them, and they were just excited about that. That’s beyond impressive in my eyes.”
This story was originally published October 31, 2025 at 11:24 AM.
