Franklin High cancels school Friday, concern rises after shots fired near campus

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- After officials say shots were heard near campus, Franklin High School and Atkinson Elementary School secured their perimeters Thursday, and Franklin High has since announced that classes will not be held Friday.

According to Portland police, school administrators heard what they believed to be gunshots around 3 p.m. They then called 911 and issued a "secure-the-perimeter" warning "out of an abundance of caution."

Responding officers said they located a shooting scene just south of the campus, near Southeast 54th Avenue and Southeast Tibbetts Street. No arrests have been made.

In a statement to KOIN 6 News, Portland Public Schools confirmed no students or staff were injured.

However, one mom says she never got any notification from the school or district about what was happening, until her daughter, a sophomore at Franklin, told her.

"When you as a parent, you send your child to school, you want them to be safe," said Karen Goforth, a parent of a Franklin student. "There was no word from the school. I was scared. I was actually scared trying to get to my daughter because I didn't know what was going on."

Students say the situation was concerning.

"It was out of the ordinary and it was definitely scary and really freaked most of us out," said Colin Goforth, a sophomore at Franklin High School. 

This happened after a number of other shootings recently near PPS schools, including one outside of Franklin during a basketball game in January. Back in December, a Cleveland High School student was injured in a shooting outside the school, and a few months earlier, two students were injured in an October shooting near Jefferson High School.

KOIN 6 asked Portland Public Schools what they're doing when violence like this happens close to schools. In a statement to KOIN 6, the district said, "the safety of our students is our foremost priority and we stand in solidarity with those working to prevent senseless acts of gun violence in our community."

But students say, beyond that safety, they also want to see better communication from their schools.

"I feel like when students ask what's going on, I feel like we should be informed," said Electra Schneider, a sophomore at Franklin High School.

KOIN 6 also asked PPS if parents and students will be notified of these events in the future in real-time; they say they're working on getting us an answer.

"We ask anyone with information regarding this incident to call the Portland Police non-emergency line at (503) 823-3333 or email crimetips@police.portlandoregon.gov," the school district's statement read. "The safety of our students is our foremost priority and we stand in solidarity with those working to prevent senseless acts of gun violence in our community."

This is a developing story, stay with KOIN 6 as we learn more.

Editor's Note: A previous version of this story said the schools entered lockdowns, but the schools since clarified that they issued a "secure-the-perimeter" protocol. The story has been updated with the correct terminology.