El Camino Real High students arrive for school, unfazed by shooting and lockdown

A stream of parents arrived in cars to drop off their children at El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills Thursday morning, and other students walked to school with the shooting of a police officer near campus fresh on their minds.

Many parents and children said they were not concerned about returning to school after Wednesday's shooting of police officer Jeffrey Stenroos as the gunman remained at large. Several police cars were visible around campus, indicating the law enforcement presence had been stepped up.

Ernesto Tajimaroa dropped off his son Jaime, 13, at El Camino about 6:30 a.m. Thursday.

“I believe everything is going to be fine,” said Tajimaroa, whose son was kept in the gym during a police-order lockdown until 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, when Tajimaroa's cousin picked him up.

Parents also spoke about the job police did Wednesday, setting up a massive seven-mile perimeter around the El Camino campus.

“I think they did a good job,” said Alison Garcia, who was not worried about her son Drew, 15, returning to school. “I felt [Drew] was safe because he was inside.”

Garcia acknowledged there was some chaos getting all the students out of El Camino and Hale Middle School but said “that’s to be expected.” She said she parked on side streets outside the closed-off area Wednesday and walked in to get her son.

“The kids were safe, they were calm,” Garcia said.

Drew, who was in an English class during Wednesday's lockdown, said the ordeal was “tiring” but his classmates stayed cheerful and they watched events unfold on TV. The main complaint was they were hungry and did not have access to food or water.

As teachers and students recounted their experiences, many reported being alert despite their hunger.

Anita Gruen, a computer teacher and 11-year educator at El Camino, said she was teaching a group of 10th- to 12th-graders when the lockdown was ordered. Gruen said her students were “very good and very well-behaved.”

She said students followed the breaking news events on television and their computers. Although there was no food or water, she had a package of throat lozenges, which she shared with those who wanted some.

She also had a sink in her room and some cups in a closet. She joked that next time she would have to stock her cupboards with Triscuit crackers.

Despite the threat of a suspect still at large Thursday, many students said they were comfortable with returning to El Camino.

Shayla Lamberth, 14, said she was locked down from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in an algebra class. The main problem was many students needed to use the bathroom but could not.

“I thought a lot of people were not going to come today and I thought about staying home, but I came anyway," she said. "I didn’t think it would be a problem.”

Kevin Wong, 17, walked to school Thursday with two friends, Raul Silva, 19, and David Crystal, 17. After a day spent locked down in a library, the three friends said they were not concerned about the gunman returning to the area.

“I knew he wouldn’t come back,” said Wong of the suspect. “And there are so many cops around.”

RELATED:

Students pour out of El Camino Real High after lockdown

LAPD defends massive dragnet for gunman who shot officer

Teacher, students shared food, kept spirits high inside El Camino Real High classroom

-- Ann M. Simmons in Woodland Hills

Photo: Los Angeles School Police keep an eye on things in front of El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills as students arrive for class on Thursday morning. Credit:  Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Steve M.]

Looking at those motor officers, you have to ask, in the event of an emergency, how fast and how far can these guys run, in the weight of their equipment, outfits and with their boots on?

Add rain to the situation and I say, "Not far."

[Joe]

The sad fact is that the LAPD is largely incompetent. Despite all the expense and inconvenience the cops accomplished exactly nothing yesterday.

[Jonah Corling]

Lucky for them, the police only cordoned off the ghetto (Canoga Park) to look for a gunman. NO need to look for him near Hidden Hills or Calabasas. Rich neighborhoods can't hide gunmen.

[eMan]

Police did a great job keeping the community safe...

[Alan]

I love it how the press is attempting to make this horrible incident into a comparison of what happened at Gardena High School. What happened "near" El Camino Real High is not akin to what happened at Gardena. This was not a school shooting. What happened is horrible, but the reporting on this makes it appear as if though there was a shooting on the grounds of the high school, or worse that students were involved. What we know thus far is that a 40 something male, outside of the school, in the area, shot a LAUSD police officer. El Camino High is known for its safety as well as being one of the best high schools in Los Angeles, if not the entire state. This shooting was shocking news to me, as well as I am sure to others who have attended El Camino or are currently attending El Camino. But, to make it appear as if though it involved the school and that is why there was a "lock down" is not accurate. Hopefully this was just an isolated incident involving someone who was in the area of this wonderful school, but not involved with the school or any of the students.

[KE]

This was not a student with a gun - it was some crackhead robbing stuff from cars. No gun would have ever been used if the cop had not come after him.

[Phil]

Unfortunately, this is typical LAPD. This shooting like dozens every day in the city did not involve the school or any of the students, nor did the perp make any attempt to enter the school itself. Yet schools miles away were "locked down". Why ? Did LAPD want the public to believe that they were protecting them ?

Because the victim was a police officer, hundreds of cops arrived to "protect their own". This is the typical "us first", the public later atitude that permeaites the "us vs the world" attitude of LAPD.

It would be nice if such a "display" of interest and manpower was the case when a non-police officer was the victim of a viloent crime.

If that were the case, we would have no crime.

[Alan]

Excellent post Phil! Exactly. And in the process they ruin the reputation of an area and a school which are known for excellence.

[Ray]

It shows what the full moon does to people.

[Worried]

I hope to the LA Times or some enterprising local news outlet finds out (Maybe do a FOA) to find out how much this "tactical alert" cost the taxpayers of LA yesterday. A seven-mile perimeter? 350 police officers? Really? For some guy that probably got away hours earlier.

Motorcycle officers were posted on each street, sitting on their bikes stopping residents from entering their homes, and that's about it. I didn't see any officers knocking on doors or canvasing the interior of the perimeter.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people--young and old--were milling about on the streets waiting to be allowed to go home. If the gunman was still around and intent on killing, these poor exposed folks would have made easy targets. A better solution for the LAPD would have been to let residents go inside their homes where it would have been far safer than standing out exposed in the middle of the street.

Again, I'm really interested in finding out how much this "event" cost. Please follow up, LA Times.

[zygion]

When our kids are "unfazed" by a shooting we are in big trouble.

[SamAnthony Gaballa]

cool my cousin is 0n the picture

[Alex W]

I was at Hale during the lockdown and stayed in a class for about 5HOURS.it was crazy,but atleast unlike El Camino, we were given food and bathroom trips.I think that there were too many police officers on our campus and that it was unorganized when we were called out to the parent when the lockdown was lifted.Im glad that everyones safe!

[James D'Zengo]

Gunmen usually prey on the weak...I admire the confidence and bravery of the students of this school to continue attending as if nothing happened. I guess it takes a lot of vigilante (and not LAPD) work to make sure society is on the right track.

[anon]

Why is the Mayor missing a huge photo-op? Oh! is it because he can't claim crime has gone down due to LAPD?

[Rosemary Allison]

This is not the first time that there has been a lock down in a school - and yet the classroom does not have the supplies needed in an emergency like this. I realize the School District does not have the funds, but I suggest that at the beginning of the school year parents donate to the school funds to purchase protein bars, bottled water and snacks to be kept for emergencies like this or an earthquake so that the students have access to some nutrition.

[Greg Mustin]

no matter who was inconvience are cops are tops ....................................................... gun control does not work !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Vicki]

jonah, you need a geography lesson. :-)

The area they were looking for the suspect was in affluent woodland hills, NOT canoga park.

The school is a short distance from Victory (south of it) and the suspect probably hoped on a bus and was gone from the area within minutes, if he didn't just drive away in his own car. That's why this was such a waste of taxpayer money.

[Emily]

I was at El Camino when this happened . We were in our classroom for about 6 hours! We had no food and water if you had it in your bag. We were not allowed to go to the bathroom, we had trash cans to use if it was that bad.

[Reality Chick]

We're training our children well on what it's like living in a police state. The lockdown was absurd. If you watched any of the LIVE footage you would have seen clusters of police officers standing around on street corners laughing and having a grand old time.

[Jack]

You all are missing the fact that a police officer was shot, for what? protecting all you cold hearted asses