WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — In the wake of Wednesday's code-red lockdown at Howell L. Watkins Middle School in Palm Beach Gardens, WPTV's Contact 5 Unit compiled a list of these alerts in Palm Beach County and Treasure Coast Schools during the last five years.
WPTV put together a list from the station's archive system, so there may have been code-red alerts that took place but were not reported by WPTV, and therefore did not make our list.
RELATED: How do Palm Beach County, Treasure Coast school districts classify lockdowns?
From WPTV's archive system, here is what we found:
CODE RED INCIDENTS
There were 25 total incidents since February 2018.
- 22 in Palm Beach County
- 2 in Indian River County
- 1 in St. Lucie County
The years 2019 and 2022 were the busiest with six code-red alerts each.
All area school systems have similar, but not exact, criteria to call for a code-red lockdown.
- In general, code reds are used for imminent threats on campus
- All interior and exterior doors are locked
- No one is allowed in or out of the school building
School officials can also call for a code yellow, a lesser level of alert, when the potential danger is off campus, but nearby.
When that happens, there is no lockdown, but teachers, students and staffers are limited in where they can go during school hours.
