Incident at WHS Today

Dear WUSD Community:

We are writing today about an incident at Windsor High School. First, we want to let you know that everyone is safe, and that safety of our staff and students is our top priority. We are thankful for our strong partnership with our law enforcement partners, specifically, our School Resource Officer JP Tamayo. We also are fortunate to have several Student Advisors who are retired law enforcement. 

Because of this relationship with our local law enforcement agencies, we held off on communicating with families, at their request. Windsor Police Department had an ongoing investigation, with several moving parts, some of which would potentially have been compromised by communicating too early. Thus, at their request, we held off until they let us know it was safe to move forward. We have now received that permission.

This morning, one of our Student Advisors was alerted to two students being in a bathroom they would not have normally been in. When the Student Advisor approached the students, one of the students behaved in an aggressive and suspicious manner, and threatened the student advisor. The Student Advisor informed administration and contacted the teacher, and it was determined that their behavior warranted further investigation. Law enforcement was informed, and it came to light there had been an incident in town (not on campus) the day before involving the students in question. With this information, and the threat to a staff member, the students and their belongings were then searched by officers.

One student was found to be in possession of a knife, while the other was found to have a knife on his person, and a gun in his backpack. The gun was loaded, but not chambered, and there was an additional empty clip also in the backpack. The students were both immediately taken into custody and removed from campus.

This is what we know now, but law enforcement’s investigation is still ongoing, so some details may be added or changed as their investigation continues. We will keep you informed as to any details which may impact the WHS community. 

We know this is a frightening situation, but we want to be clear — the system we have here in Windsor worked. Our SRO, our student advisors, our teachers, our administrators and Windsor PD all worked together to prevent any further escalation or tragedy. The strong, positive connections and relationships allowed for a peaceful resolution. We are so thankful for these partnerships and support. 

If you or your family needs any additional support or you have any questions, please reach out to your school site. 

Your Windsor Unified School District Team