La Cueva High School senior Luke Schiffer, whose cardboard gun touched off a lockdown, an evacuation and a massive police response at the high school last Monday, will be able to graduate after all, the Albuquerque Journal's Zsombor Peter reported Saturday in an article titled "Oops!"

The "gun" was a cardboard cutout that was to serve as a stand-in for a sword in a class project Schiffer's lawyer called "Hamlet in the Hood," the Journal reported.

School officials suspended Schiffer and told him he couldn't graduate as punishment for causing the massive police reaction that disrupted classes and traumatized staff, students and their parents, the Journal said.

State District Judge Linda Vanzi, asked by Schiffer's father to allow his son to attend graduation, ruled on Friday that the senior could graduate and noted that there was plenty of blame to go around, according to the Journal.

"An awful lot of mistakes were made," said Vanzi, who decided there were so many parties at fault, it would be unfair to single out Schiffer.

A misdemeanor charge of disrupting the educational process and a felony charge of tampering with evidence have been forwarded to the District Attorney's Office, but there is no word yet about whether those charges will be pressed.

For columnist Jim Belshaw's take on the whole mess, see his Sunday piece, "Memory Still Serves Me Right."

8:55am 4/29/08 UPDATE: Even though it turned out to be something of a false alarm, Monday's lockdown at La Cueva High School prompted concern and in some cases near-panic among parents as rumors spread of a gunman loose on the Northeast Heights campus.

Albuquerque Public Schools hopes to improve communication with parents with a $250,000 system to be installed next year that will send out text messages and e-mails to parents' cellphones, KOB-TV is reporting.

"We can do it throughout the whole district, a few schools, one school or even into one classroom," Lynn Pedraza of APS told Eyewitness News 4.

The planned system could be used for more than emergency communication, according to Pedraza.

The system could remind students about homework and alert parents whose children don't show up at school, Pedraza told KOB-TV.

5:30am 4/29/08 -- Student Who Sparked Lockdown ID'd: 17-year-old La Cueva student faces misdemeanor charges, suspension.

La Cueva student Luke Schiffer, 17, spotted with a fake gun made of cardboard at school early Monday, found himself facing a team of fully armed police, dozens of squad cars and a helicopter after the school went on lockdown at 9:25 a.m., the Albuquerque Journal reported this morning.

Although he was arrested in a classroom at 10:05 a.m., police and school authorities proceeded with an evacuation of some students, a precautionary headcount and a search of the school for any further threats, the Journal reported.

Roads around the school were blocked, the nearby Desert Ridge Middle School went into a partial lockdown, neighboring elementary schools canceled recess and throngs of anxious parents flocked to the area, according to the Journal.

It wasn't until 1:30 p.m. that students were back in their classrooms and those parents weren't allowed into the school until about 2, the paper reported.

While it was reported Monday afternoon that a second student was detained for questioning, it was only Schiffer who was left facing the consequences of what seems like an ill-considered prank.

Schiffer was charged with interference with the educational process, a misdemeanor, and was booked into the Bernalillo County Juvenile Detention Center before being released into the custody of his parents, the Journal said.

Albuquerque Public Schools spokesman Rigo Chavez said Schiffer is facing suspension from school but probably not expulsion, the Journal reported.

11:50am 4/28/08 -- Two La Cueva Students in Custody: Fake gun made of cardboard triggered lockdown at NE Heights high school.

Two La Cueva High School students were taken into custody this morning after they allegedly took a fake gun made of cardboard onto campus and triggered a lockdown around 9:25 this morning, KOB-TV is reporting.

Students who were evacuated as APD and APS officers conducted a room by room search were being brought back into the school at this hour, Albuquerque Public Schools spokeswoman Monica Armenta told Eyewitness News 4.

School officials are conducting a head count of students after which parents will be allowed to pick up their children, Armenta told KOB-TV.

Police shut down streets near the school during the lockdown, including a busy intersection at Wyoming and Wilshire NE, the station reported.

There is no word yet on what might happen to the students who were taken into custody in connection with the incident. 

One person has been taken into custody, and Albuquerque Public Schools police and Albuquerque Police Department officers are escorting some students from La Cueva High School, which was put on lockdown at 9:25 this morning after reports of an armed person on campus, KOB-TV is reporting.

The APS Web site, meanwhile, is saying on its Web site that parents may wait for students at Corona and Murrelet NE, between Louisiana and Wyoming.

Police have blocked off part of Wyoming near Wilshire as the lockdown continues, according to KOB-TV.

Breaking at 9:59am -- La Cueva High School on Lockdown: School officials say an armed person was reportedly seen on campus.

La Cueva High School went on lockdown at 9:25 this morning, after officials said there was a report of an armed individual who was seen on campus, according to the Albuquerque Public Schools Web site.

APS police and the Albuquerque Police Department are on scene, APS said.

A school resource officer -- an APD officer assigned to the school -- was the one who made the initial report, but other details weren't immediately available, APS spokesman Rigo Chavez told ABQjournal.com. 

Parents are asked not to go to the school, and students are not being let out of school, the APS Web site said.

Parents needing information can call the city's Citizen Contact Center at 311. 

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