LOVELAND, Colo. (KDVR) — The Thompson School District confirmed that more than a dozen teachers left campus during a shooting threat at Loveland High School on Wednesday.

A district spokesperson said 14 teachers “departed the Loveland High School campus” while school was still in session, following a Safe2Tell tip about a planned shooting at the school.

Aubrey Livermore, a sophomore at LHS, said some students were told to go to the cafeteria, while others mingled in the hallway.

“There was no direction on what to do,” she said. “We were all kind of just confused and lost.”

Her brother, Hunter, said he showed up to class to find the door locked and the lights out. He waited in the cafeteria with a friend until school was officially canceled just after 10 a.m.

“It seemed that no one was there, and I didn’t know what to do,” he said. “I didn’t really know what was going on.”

‘These kids had no idea what to do’

The lack of communication has drawn backlash from parents, questioning why teachers left before school was officially canceled.

“These kids had no idea what to do, and the teachers left the building and left the kids there,” Steve Johnson said. “How can this happen in this day and age, with so much attention drawn to this subject?”

A school district spokesperson declined to comment on school protocol during active shooter investigations, citing school security.

He added that “district staff are currently in the process of engaging and partnering with Loveland High School staff to reflect and to review protocols as we move forward.”

Johnson hopes it serves as a lesson for future threats. 

“We drop them off, and we expect them to be taken care of and safe,” he said. “And yesterday was a wake-up call that said, ‘Oh no, nobody has control of this situation at all.’”