Real Housewives of Orange County star Tamra Judge emotionally recalled the alarming message “no parent wants to get” from their child, as she revealed that her daughter Sophia Barney‘s high school was temporarily placed on lockdown after an armed man entered the building.
According to People magazine, the horrifying incident occurred on April 13, when an unidentified man came to the 17-year-old’s school, San Juan Hills High School, with a weapon. Judge shared the news on a now-deleted Instagram story that same day with a screenshot of a text message from Barney alerting her mother about what was going on with the caption, “the text no parent wants to get.”
Some of the messages included Barney telling Judge that she and her classmates were unaware of why they were placed on lockdown and that they could hear police sirens as they hid in a classroom. In addition to the image, the 55-year-old tearfully opened up about the ordeal in another now-removed Instagram story. Judge expressed how helpless she felt receiving the texts and being unable to protect her daughter. She also disclosed that the event had caused Barney not to want to “go back to school” despite it being her senior year. The reality star said,
“You get the text, and you’re so helpless. There’s nothing you can do in this f—ing world. I’m so sick of it. I’m so sick of what’s going on. My daughter now doesn’t want to go back to school. It’s her senior year… It’s got to stop!”
Later in the clip, Judge confirmed that Barney and everyone were left unharmed, but the experience alone left students and teachers traumatized. The mother of four stated that the unnamed man was captured while describing the agony that everyone went through during that moment,
“Everything’s okay, and they caught the guy. But there was somebody that came into my daughter’s school today, and they put them in lockdown. He did have a weapon. The kids are traumatized, the teachers are traumatized. They had the students barricade the door with bookshelves, they were laying on the floor. One teacher handed out hammers, another one had a fire extinguisher, ready to go after somebody. Kids were crying, ‘I don’t want to die.'”
In a statement released to People, a representative for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department reiterated Judge’s remarks about the unidentified man being apprehended. The person added that the man “was detained quickly” after he entered the school and informed a security guard that he had a weapon, which turned out to be a pocket knife.
After the admission, it’s reported the security guard followed the man “because of his behavior.” This action would ultimately lead to the man being arrested and charged with trespassing.
At this time, no additional details have been provided to the public.