West on Lockdown

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Alissa Hansen

Burge was dodging police for hours in the neighborhood of Zenith Avenue and Hidden Valley Circle near West High.

Andrew Lord, News Editor

On Wednesday morning, Sept. 14, West High School and Wilson Elementary School went into a lockdown.

At 8:30 a.m. Davenport police were notified of a person with a gun in the 1300 block of Waverly Road. The police prompted West and Wilson to go into lockdown.

West’s Principal Jenni Weipert spoke on the loudspeakers announcing that the school was under lockdown and that it was not a drill. At the time there was very little knowledge about what was going on.

Students described the man as a black male with dreadlocks, dressed in all black, covered in grass and carrying a backpack The person of interest carried a rifle and evaded the police for a number of hours in the area of West 13th Street near West High.

“The man in all black was walking around the track with us; nobody seemed to notice him. Then suddenly he jolted and ran up the hill into the trailer park,” sophomore Melissa Rump said. Rump was on the track on the south side of the building with other students during her gym class.

“I am glad that no one was hurt and that not as many kids left the building. I went through my checklist, and my main struggle was trying to stay calm and confident through all of this. I was being honest with the kids so they knew I was taking care of them,” Weipert said.

The lockdown lasted for two hours and the students were instructed to stay in their classrooms until the lockdown was over. The lockdown protocol prevented students from entering or leaving the school campus. Timely updates were given by the principal over the duration of the lockdown.

No students or faculty were harmed during the lockdown. The lockdown ceased once the threat was no longer imminent.

Update: The male suspect, 21-year-old Davion Burge, was taken into custody on Emerald Drive in Davenport at approximately 12:30 p.m.