On Dec. 16, 2021 LOHS entered a “Secure and Hold” position due to a written threat placed in one of the school bathrooms. The “Secure and Hold” started shortly before 11 a.m. after a student found a note reading “There will be a shooting today” and notified office staff. Upon receiving the information the LOHS administration quickly announced the Secure and Hold position over the PA system and the Lake Oswego Police Department (LOPD) was notified. For certain areas such as the athletic facilities and Tech Room 3, lack of complete PA coverage meant that email was the only notification of the secure and hold position. In addition to shutting down LOHS, the District decided to pause activities at Lake Oswego Middle School and hold students in their classrooms.

The LOPD arrived shortly after they were notified and searched every student locker in the building before searching every classroom and every student. Two LO Police Officers entered every classroom to pat down every student and search every student’s backpacks. 

While police were searching lockers, teachers received at least three separate email communications regarding plans for the remainder of the school day. Initially, an email was sent to teachers and staff pertaining to the Secure and Hold position. The second known email sent out to teachers included a plan to converge students in either the cafeteria or gym after students were all searched. Some teachers shared the contents of their emails with their classes. The final email informed teachers that after the police search was complete, students would be dismissed as usual with an increased police presence. At 3:25 p.m. an announcement was made and students were released from the building.

Recently, a similar threat was made on the 24th of January which resulted in a Hold position announced through the school. Second period was slightly extended with the rest of the day being considerably shorter. The threat was made the day before finals and the threat was not deemed credible by the LOPD.