Students were in their first-period class at Cazenovia High School when the vice principal's voice came over the loudspeaker telling everyone the school was going into a lockdown.
"You could tell from her voice she was serious," said senior Jack Nardella, who was in government class when the announcement came over about 8:15 a.m. "She told us we had to go into a lockdown, and that it was not a joke."
It was the first lockdown for the Cazenovia school district, and for many it stirred images of school shootings such as at Sandy Hook and Columbine.
The school fell absolutely silent for a moment. Then teachers rushed to lock classroom doors; students huddled in corners of classrooms away from doors and windows. In some classrooms, students hid in closets.
A text message between Madison Gabor and her mother, Susan, during the lockdown. Some teachers pushed desks in front of the doors to block anyone from entering. In one case, a teacher guarded the door with a pair of scissors.
This is what happens today when a school faces the possibility that a person with a gun is loose in a building. In this case, the lockdown was triggered by bullets found in a hallway. No shooter was found and, by the accounts of many people involved, the school handled the situation well, but it was still a scary time for many students, staff and parents.
"It's too bad in this day and age lockdowns have become the norm across the country,'' said Cazenovia Superintendent Robert Dubik. "You wouldn't think it would happen here in a small town like Cazenovia, but the Connecticut ordeal opened people's eyes to the fact that we are no different than anyone else. Sometimes it happens.
As the 2½-hour lockdown in Cazenovia started on April 4 in the middle and high schools, no one knew exactly what was happening, students said. (The middle school is connected to the high school.) Nearly 1,000 students attend the schools located just off the main road through the small Madison County village.
Madison Gabor.a senior at Cazenovia High School Teachers and students did know what they had to do because they had held lockdown drills. They locked classroom doors and took cover.
For the most part, students were quiet, but in some classes some students cried. Students in some classes held hands and whispered to each other things would be OK, trying to comfort those who were shaken.
Students interviewed didn't recall hearing sirens, but from time to time they could hear footsteps in the hallways. That made students "even more tense, nervous and scared," one student said, because they didn't know who was right outside their classroom.
Some texted their parents to tell them there was a lockdown but they were OK.
School authorities didn't know how dangerous the situation was at first. When a principal went to find the bullets, they were gone.
The superintendent said he suspected after a short time that the situation wasn't dangerous, but he called the lockdown because he felt they had to make sure students and staff were safe.
"If we did nothing, both the students and parents would question why we didn't take action," Dubik said.
Jay Doxtator, a senior at Cazenovia High School After calling for the lockdown, Dubik called police. Police responded immediately, but it took an hour to bring in police dogs from Syracuse and Utica to search the schools. (Some local law enforcement personnel were not available because they were at a funeral for a Johnson City police officer.)
As students waited that first hour, many interviewed recalled feeling some panic. When the high school vice principal made the announcement over the loudspeaker, a number of students said the typically calm, controlled administrator sounded breathless and anxious.
Amara Kattrein, a senior at Cazenovia High School Amara Kattrein, a senior who was in English class when the announcement came over, said students immediately crouched in a corner.
"It was pretty scary,'' she said. "Some girls were crying, and one started to lose it a little bit. I was holding onto my friend's hand, and I was worried about my little brother, who is 16."
Kattrein said they all moved away from the door so no one could see them from the hall.
"Our teacher picked up a pair of scissors, and stood by the door with them in his hand," she said, adding her teacher's actions helped make her feel safe.
Jay Doxtator, a junior who was in U.S. History class, said those first 40 minutes or so were scary.
"You hear about all these school shootings and stabbings today, and a lot of us were worried we would be next," he said.
All the students in his class crouched in a corner of the classroom, he said.
"One girl started crying, but other than that we were all very quiet. No one moved. We were probably like that for 30 minutes or so, but it seemed like a really long time," Doxtator said.
At one point, Doxtator's dad sent him an email asking him if he was OK, and Jay replied that he was.
Jack Nardella, a senior at Cazenoiva High School. "We were expecting to hear gunshots any second," Nardella said. "We kept looking around and wondering if this was it - were we going to be next? You hear about it happening in all these small towns like Cazenovia."
Sam Langan, a junior, was in his entrepreneurship class, which is situated in a corner of high school. "We all sat down in a corner and the boys sat around the edge of the circle, while the girls were in the middle,'' he recalled. "Several girls were crying, but our teachers kept us all calm.
"It's not a great scene to remember,'' he said.
At one point, a special needs girl who was in the hallway began yelling 'help me, I'm scared,' Langan said.
"We didn't know whether to run out in the hall and help her,'' he said. "We were worried she would attract anyone who was in the school. Our teacher told us to stay put, and another teacher in the hall helped her calm down."
Sam Langan, a junior at Cazenovia High School "I started thinking someone was being held, or someone was in the building with a weapon,' she said. "I really don't know what to think. It was hard because we didn't know what was going on."
About an hour into the lockdown, school officials announced students could move around their classrooms, but not the hallways. That helped people relax a bit, students said.
"Our teachers read us the email he had received from the district saying they had found bullets but no gun, so we felt a little better," Kattrein said. "We were sharing our food, and talking about how scary it must be for kids who are in a situation where there really is someone with a gun.
"Even so, I was rattled because this is a small, family community," she said.
Students in some classes tried to find ways to pass the time once they could move around.
"We watched the movie "Turbo" on Netflix on the teacher's computer, and started talking about what might be going on,'' Doxtator recalled. "We were all really hungry and our teacher shared his Girl Scout cookies with us."
Some parents were home and received automated phone calls about the lockdown that school officials sent out. The district also posted a notice on its web site. While some parents were worried, they were not frantic, according to students and parents interviewed.
Some parents who heard about the lockdown showed up at the door to try to pick up their children. Dubik said they were told they can't take kids out during the lockdown and they understood.
At 11:20, the lockdown was over.
In the end, no gun or gunman was found in the schools.
These are texts between Amara Kattrein, a senior at Cazenovia High School, and a friend at Westhill High School on April 4 during a lockdown at Cazenovia High School. "The whole thing is scary no matter what caused it,'' Dubik said. "It is the unknown. Why were there bullets in the hallway? Some kids work on farms and may have them, but we just didn't know."
Cazenovia High School teacher Kurt Wheeler, who also is the village mayor, said while everyone was extremely scared, it was excellent training.
"Everyone believed this was a real and credible threat and handled themselves gracefully,'' said Wheeler, who is also a former U.S. Marine. "They knew what to do, but if a more dangerous situation occurred again another time, everyone would be so much better prepared. You don't know what really works until you are in that situation."
The superintendent said one thing the district will change is the way it sends messages to parents. Instead of sending the messages just to home phones, the school will send e-mail messages and text messages to cell phones.
Kattrein, the senior who was in her English class, said she is thankful for the lockdown drills that everyone used to consider a chore.
"I will never complain about them again,'' she said.
Do you have a story to share about the lockdown at Cazenovia High School or a lockdown at your school? You can share it below in the comments or contact me at edoran@syracuse.com.