Archbishop Carroll High School lockdown lifted
RADNOR >> Archbishop Carroll High School was placed on lockdown for 45 minutes Wednesday morning sparked by a report of a student with a gun, officials said. One student was detained but no gun was found during a subsequent search of the school, according to township police Superintendent Chris Flanagan.
No injuries were reported and no students were ever in danger, according to school and law enforcement authorities. No gun was found after a thorough search of the building, police said.
The lockdown was put in place at 11:45 a.m. after the report about a possible student with a gun was made to the school. Police were alerted and a lockdown put in place. It was lifted at 12:30 p.m. and students were able to resume their academic schedules.
All students were safe. Many parents descended on the school after word of the threat spread.
Parent Michele Tammany was one of the parents who rushed over when she got a text from her son on her phone. Her son is a junior at Carroll and at 11:45 a.m. he said via text: “armed intruders, said a friend.”
“My reaction was WTF!” she said. “He was at lunch. I raced over. He wanted to know what was going on out here.”
Carroll student George Wilmer was leaving with his father who heard the alert and didn’t want to leave him in school.
“You see it on the news and you never think, ‘It’s going to happen here,’ then it happens to you,” said Wilmer. “I thought it was a drill until I looked out the window and saw police cars. We have drills four to five times a year.”
There is no information as yet on the student who was detained. Police say the person remains under investigation. No charges have been filed.
The Archdiocese of Philadelphia
issued a statement to all school families at Archbishop Carroll related to the incident acknowledging there had been “a threat made by one of our students against our school community at large.”
According to Archdiocese spokesman Kenneth A. Gavin, school administrators received information about the threat and the archdiocese immediately contacted the Radnor Township police as law enforcement responded swiftly.
“Please be assured that the safety and security of your sons and daughters is our very top priority,” the archdiocese statement to families said. “We take any report of a threat to our school community seriously. Thankfully, no one was harmed in any way. Incidents such as this demonstrate the importance of our entire school community working together to maintain a safe environment. We encourage you to speak with your children about this matter and to remind them that they should always report any suspicious activity immediately.” School officials said they were cooperating with the Radnor Township Police Department and added, “We are extremely grateful for their assistance.”
The Archdiocese ended their statement with a reaffirmation of faith, saying, “Please be assured of our continued prayers for our school community.”
During the incident, there was a massive police presence with officers from Radnor, Marple, Haverford and Newtown townships. Police kept about 25 worried parents who rushed to pick up their children back on Matsonford Road until the all clear was sounded. Carroll President Frank Fox then talked to anxious parents in the lobby of the school.
Meanwhile, the Radnor Township School District was alerted to make sure exterior doors were locked at Radnor Elementary School and Radnor High School, said spokesman Michael Pettiti.