After an intruder tried to break in to Phineas Davis Elementary in Spring Garden Twp, York County, police say they have the suspect in custody.
Students were rushed out of the school, in the picture of every parent’s nightmare, but in this case officials say the security protocol did its job.
About 60 students were inside the school when a man walked in the front door and became violent.
Police say he began breaking things trying to get further inside the school, but the doors in the lobby stay locked and he didn’t get in.
“You could tell he was frustrated trying to get through to… into the school itself,” says York City Police Chief Wes Kahley. “And that’s why I said the security system at the school, the doors that are in place, did their job.”
Police say the man was the parent of a student. They say he did not have a gun. But he did extensive damage to the lobby, so violent it sounded like gunshots to those calling for help.
It was just after 4 o’clock. The kids and teachers still there were in a tutoring program.
The principal pulled the alarm for a lockdown.
“We’re going to sit down with city police and with our own school police, to look at this incident at what we can do better,” says superintendent Dr. Eric Holmes. “But we believe that the security worked.”
Students were taken into their classrooms, until police cleared the scene. Then they were rushed onto buses to another school, part of the district’s security protocol to take them away from a dangerous situation.
“There was a lot of damage in the lobby area a lot of things being broken,” says Kahley. “The lockdown drill worked flawlessly the kids were well-hidden.”