On Sept. 10, just as lunch began, Carlmont Principal Gay Buckland-Murray’s voice echoed through the loudspeakers, directing students to return to their second-period classrooms.

Students were scattered throughout the campus, sitting with friends, attending club meetings, or waiting in line for lunch. Many were confused. Some assumed it was a routine announcement or a prank.

But then, at the end of the announcement, came five words that changed everything.

“This is not a drill.”

From there, stories began to split.

The rumors

“I think that students and parents, as well as staff, wanted more information, which is a double-edged sword,” Principal Buckland-Murray said.

Information was spreading, but the truth remained uncertain.

“Pretty much everything I heard is from rumors, so I don’t think anyone knows what actually happened,” said Carlmont sophomore Selena Chui.

While the event’s aftermath was stressful and confusing, rumors began to spread the second the announcement was made. Some even recalled hearing rumors of a threat before the lockdown.

“I have friends from Menlo-Atherton who told me they were getting texts before that day, saying things like ‘don’t come to school tomorrow if you want to live,’” Chui said.

On Sept. 22, ABC7 News initially published an article on the incident, stating that the Sandy Hook Promise tip line had received images of firearms in addition to a map of Menlo-Atherton, therefore raising suspicion. 

The article has since been updated after being marked for containing misinformation.

“From what I know, there was a planned attack by a Menlo-Atherton student on Carlmont High School, but it got stopped by the See Something Say Something app,” Chui said.

This rumor was proven false—the threat had targeted Menlo-Atherton, not Carlmont.

“I feel like we should’ve been told more information. No one really knew what was going on,” Chui said.

The official response

On Sept. 23, the morning following the ABC7 news story, the district superintendent and both Carlmont and Menlo-Atherton principals posted statements about the article, stating that it included inaccuracies and misinformation.

“Despite what the ABC7 news is reporting, Atherton Police reported that no firearms were found in the house of the individual who made the threat,” said District Superintendent Crystal Leach in a district-wide email.

False rumors also spread about what was sent in the initial report, such as images of firearms.

“We received a map of Menlo-Atherton from the Say Something tip, as well as a notice of who the student was,” said Dmitri Andruha, Menlo-Atherton school resource officer. 

However, Andruha states that this wasn’t unusual and that threats were fairly common.

“We then pinged the student’s phone, and noticed that it was in the vicinity of Menlo-Atherton High School, which was when we decided to call the Secure Campus,” Andruha said.

A Secure Campus is one of the Big Five school safety protocols. With no immediate threat on campus, students must remain in class with locked doors, but teaching can continue.

“I was the one to search the student’s house. There were no weapons found, nothing,” Andruha said. “I think the rumors that have spread are funny, and if there’s an opportunity for rumors with kids, it’ll spread like wildfire.”

It is debatable who’s responsible for the rumors, whether it was the school, police, news organizations, or the students themselves.

“I think navigating the communication was really difficult for me, because I just wanted to make sure that all of the students were okay,” Buckland-Murray said.

The tip reporter

“I got sent an image of ammunition a few days before, then the day before, I got sent the map, which I reported,” said Liam Jackson*, the reporter of the tip.

Jackson claimed that the only thing on the tip was the Instagram story of his friend, which included the Menlo-Atherton map, along with images of ammunition magazines at the bottom.

“I was reminded to report him when I saw the video in flex about See Something, Say Something,” Jackson said.

Jackson noticed the absurdity of some rumors, often contradicting what he knew to be true.

“Some of them were kind of crazy, because I knew what was actually happening. But some of them were also bad, like people accusing me of doing something wrong, because I got pulled out of class,” Jackson said.

While limited information about the Secure Campus was shared, Buckland-Murray asserts that students and other community members shouldn’t spread rumors without knowing the whole truth.

“What was upsetting to me was that there were a lot of people who were saying things that were entirely unsubstantiated instead of just waiting for actual facts,” Buckland-Murray said. “When that gets spread, suddenly perception becomes a reality.”

*This source’s name has been changed to protect their privacy in accordance with Carlmont Media’s Scot Scoop Anonymous Sourcing Policy.

This story was originally published on Scot Scoop News on September 30, 2025.