False cougar report keys lockdown

Schools in Mountain Home went into temporary lockdown last Friday morning after a parent had called Hacker Middle School and reported seeing a cougar in town.

The report was erroneous, but it took about 90 minutes to determine that, during which time some students essentially were unable to attend recess.

Supt. of Schools Tim McMurtrey said the lockdown occurred between roughly 10-11:30 a.m. and, he added, the report "didn't go through police," but was handled by the city's animal control personnel.

"Maybe the superintendent and the new principal at Hacker overreacted just a tad," admitted McMurtrey, who ordered the lockdown, "but it did give us a chance to practice our emergency management plan."

McMurtrey described the district's measures as "soft lockdown," in which essentially students simply weren't allowed out of the building to attend recess. It also limited travel between buildings at Hacker, he said.