Emergency badge triggers lockdown at West Laurens High School

An emergency badge in a small bag triggered an alarm causing students and staff to go into a brief lockdown at West Laurens High School this morning.

WLHS Principal Lyn Long released a statement on the school’s Facebook page that one of their staff member’s CENTEGIX badge was in a gym bag and went off, forcing the school to go on hold.

“This was a false alarm and has been cleared,” Long wrote in the post that was published around 10 a.m. Wednesday. “The school staff and students are all safe and there was no danger or perceived threat of any kind.” 

A CENTEGIX badge is used for any incidents in the school building. Laurens County Superintendent O.J. Hall said the badge was in a small, air-tight bag.

“It was pressing against the button on the badge,” he said. “The coach was not aware it was being pressed and that set it off. They went into (a lockdown) but got out of it pretty quick. There was no fight or anything like that.” 

Hall received the notification about the alarm and talked to the county’s safety director around 8:01 a.m. 

“By 8:03 a.m., I knew it was a false alarm,” Hall said. “It all happened very quick.”

Hall said this incident was like a pop quiz.

“Unfortunately, we live in a world where we have to consider these type of things,” he said. “By having an unplanned false alert, it created an opportunity for us to look at and review our procedures and protocols. Not to have a plan for an emergency is foolish. An (active shooting) event is something we all cringe about, but it’s a reality in the world we live in.”