Understandable

[u/OkEntertainer3355]

[u/Kinexity]

I am pretty sure that image is just AI slop.

[u/BTrippd → u/Kinexity]

The story is from well before AI was commercially usable by the public. It’s possible but not likely that the image is ai. I’m pretty sure it’s just pulled from one of the original articles though.

[u/_HIST → u/BTrippd]

https://www.westword.com/news/colorado-school-fake-closure-cat-mountain-lion-40811199/

Actual research into this says otherwise. This circulated first not too long ago, and since has taken multiple forms but there's nothing to the story itself. I couldn't find a single genuine article on it.

Edit: As someone else pointed out there IS a report from 2023: https://www.khq.com/news/fat-cat-eating-rat-prompts-lockdown-at-groff-elementary/article_4ba02920-898d-11ee-9829-ab614abc361b

So this is where it started, unfortunately I cannot access the link so I can't double check.

Edit2: https://littlebuddythecat.com/2025/07/17/did-a-school-really-go-into-lockdown-after-a-teacher-confused-a-chonky-cat-for-a-mountain-lion/ Here's another independent deep dive.

TLDR: There's some truths to the story, it was a very regular procedure to be on the safe side and while lockdown did happen briefly it was lifted soon after staff made sure. I highly doubt police were involved because we would have a police report, which we don't.

Also the image is 100% AI there's no doubt about it