Cumberland home break in prompts McCourt lockdown

CUMBERLAND — Joseph L. McCourt Middle School was on lockdown briefly on Friday morning, the result of a nearby house break.

A man broke into a house on Kent Street on Friday morning, according to Cumberland Police Deputy Chief Douglas Ciullo. The suspect assaulted the resident who was home, and then fled.

The victim has minor injuries and was not taken to the hospital, police said.

Ciullo said it appeared the suspect fled in the direction of McCourt.

"We brought in some dogs, and in the interest of keeping anybody who was at the school safe, the school was locked down," Ciullo said.

According to an email Cumberland Superintendent Robert Mitchell sent to parents, the home invasion coincided with a scheduled evacuation drill planned with the Cumberland Police Department.

Captain Robert Fay was at the school during the evacuation drill and asked Principal Jay Masterson "to return the students to the school as a precautionary measure," Mitchell said.

The superintendent added that all students and staff were accounted for in about two and a half minutes. Police required the school go into lockdown, and after 20 minutes, the lockdown was downgraded to restricted movement.

"Restricted movement allows teachers to continue teaching and only movement that is absolutely necessary is allowed to occur," Mitchell wrote in his email. "At approximately 10:40 a.m., the restricted movement was lifted by the Cumberland Police Department and the daily routine returned to normal."

Mitchell said that students and faculty "responded extremely well to this situation" and that the practice the district does to prepare for such a situation has paid off.