PORTLAND, Ore. — Extra police officers were on and around campus early on Monday, for the start of the Parkrose High school day. It was the first day back, after a traumatic event where police say a student brought a loaded shotgun into class.
They've identified the student as 18-year-old Angel Granados-Diaz. The incident had many students still shaken up Monday morning.
“I feel a little uneasy, a little uneasy just trying to get myself back together from what happened on Friday,” said Rider Maldanado, a freshman who spent an hour on Friday crammed in a large classroom closet with other students during the lockdown. “I was scared, actually. I was like, 'I don't know what's gonna go on.' I just didn't know anything.”
He and all the other students made it out safely, so they could be at school together on Monday.
Thanks for that goes to a couple of students who alerted school leaders something wasn't right with Granados-Diaz. And to Parkrose football and track coach Keanon Lowe for jumping into action. The former University of Oregon star football player, who also serves as a security guard on campus, tackled Granados-Diaz when police say he went into a classroom Friday with the shotgun.
Lowe tweeted, "When confronted with the test the universe presented me with, I didn't see any other choice but to act. Thank God, I passed."
Tristen Yates is a freshman who knows Lowe through the track team.
“I just have so much things that I want to say to him. I was just really happy that he was there for everybody and I think it was God's work and a message from God to tell him to go to that class,” Yates said.
Grateful kids and parents are still understandably rattled about what happened at their school.
"I just want to make sure my son is safe and that's why I'm here,” said parent Shaun Knieriem.
Extra counselors will be available throughout the week for students and staff. District superintendent Michael Lopes Serrao said similar resources would be available for Parkrose middle and elementary students also.
Yates said he would take advantage of the offer to talk to someone.“I was gonna go in there and talk to a counselor just tell them how I feel. It was just one of those things that you wouldn't expect to happen.”
The Parkrose district will also hold a community forum for families and staff on Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. in the Parkrose High School auditorium. The forum will focus on how they are providing support to students at school and how parents and other caregivers can provide support to our students at home.