Colorado parents concerned over Bromley East Charter response after bullets found on campus

Some parents in Colorado's Brighton community are feeling frustrated after they say there was a lack of communication from school administration after bullets were found on the school campus. Now the school is hosting a safety meeting after those three bullets were found last week.

"I became very scared, and I started crying," said Elizabeth Vazquez.

Vazquez says she received an alert that the school where her two children attend, Bromley East Charter, was placed on a secure hold shortly after the school day started on Friday, Sept. 26.

"About 20 minutes after that, I went to the school and sat there waiting for the hold to be lifted so I could pick up my kids and we could leave," said Vazquez.

"It was like... immediately drop everything, go to the school, make sure my kids are okay," said Ryan Liggett.

Liggett's 8th-grade son, Braidyn, says inside the campus, chaos quickly unfolded among students, who did not know what was going on.

"The first 30 minutes were calm, chill, nothing was happening. Then first period was over, and that's when everything started to get crazy. People were flipping desks, there were chairs everywhere, phones out," said Braidyn. "I'd say like, fifth period, someone got a text from their mom saying there were bullets found. Nobody was sure if it was true yet."

"I found out from my son, who's in 7th grade, texting off of another kid's phone that they were on hold for two plus hours," said Samantha Williams, another parent. "Then, he texted saying they were being searched by officers and canines in the hallway."

Parents say they were left in the dark for hours as to what happened.

"About 1 o'clock, you start hearing rumors, and at 1:15 we get an email saying there is an early dismissal, come and get your child, they found a bullet in the hallway," said Liggett.

Brighton police say they found a total of three unspent bullet rounds on campus. Williams' daughter, Sadie, found one of them.

"This kid was walking by, and something dropped. So, I went to see what it was to give it back to him," said Sadie. "I found out what it was, so I told my teacher."

Parents CBS Colorado spoke to say there was a lack of coordination and communication from start to finish, including when it was time for families to grab their children.

"It was chaos at pick-up time. Honestly, it was chaos," said Vazquez. "There was a sea of parents, and there were supposed to be three lines. A sea of parents, and no one knows where to go, no one is directing them where to go."

CBS Colorado reached out to the charter school for comment on parents' concerns, but has not heard back yet.

"The lack of consistency in the procedures of the hold was just inexcusable, I think the fact that I was sitting there for hours being told that I could not take my kids home," said Vasquez. "But, then young kids, including my daughter, are on the playground playing, that's a huge inconsistency."

In a letter to families, the BECS included statements as to why parents were not notified about the bullets sooner, as well as why students were out on the playground during the secure "hold."

While it is situationally dependent, officers will ask to hold the release of specific details until initial information can be gathered and verified. We've learned that information changes quickly, and misinformation released early in the process can impact students' safety. When we identify actionable information related to a direct threat to the school, immediate steps are taken in response to the specifics of that threat. Related information is shared cooperatively through the school and Brighton Police Department.

Prior to releasing the 6th-grade students for lunch, all students were screened, and the Brighton Police Department agreed that there was no immediate threat amongst this group of students. 7th and 8th-grade students remained in their classrooms. We continued our search in middle school, and once we identified two additional live rounds in a classroom, we adjusted our safety response.

However, parents say they do not feel like enough of their questions have been answered and hope they will have an opportunity to do so during an upcoming Safety Town Hall meeting, created in response to Friday's incident.

"We're coming off of two weeks of the Evergreen shooting and the Charlie Kirk incident. The world is wild," said Liggett.  "The fact that we were held in the dark for hours makes you think worst-case scenario."

"I was thinking about if someone else had a weapon, it could've ended worse than it did," said Braidyn.

The meeting will take place on Tuesday, Sept. 30, at 6:30 p.m. in the BECS Auditorium. The event will also be live-streamed for those who cannot attend in person.