False Alarm Triggers Lockdown At Harrison Elementary School

A parent picking up his daughter at Harrison Elementary School inadvertently triggered a lockdown at the school this week. 

At 12:50 p.m. on Tuesday a father was buzzed into the school at the main entrance, according to Livingston Police Department. The father told the central office he was there to pick up his daughter.

Moments before, the mother of the same elementary school student had signed her out at the central office, said police. As the father was buzzed into the school, he met his wife and daughter at the front entrance and all three left together.

“He [the father] thought he was picking her [the daughter] up, and she [the mother] thought she was picking her [the daughter] up,” said Livingston Police Sgt. Anthony Dippold. 

Because the father never checked into the school’s central office, the school believed an unidentified man was potentially in the school and triggered a lockdown.

More than a dozen Livingston Police officers sped to the school, including Livingston Police Chief Craig Handschuch.

“We responded immediately,” said Dippold. “Nobody saw anyone take a child, but the concern was this guy went in and they [the school] didn’t know who he was or where he went.”

Livingston detectives looked at surveillance footage and quickly assessed the lockdown was a false alarm, according to police. The lockdown was lifted within the hour.

During the lockdown, students were secured in their classrooms and lessons continued, said Marilyn Joyce Lehren, manager of communications and community outreach for Livingston schools.

Superintendent John Alfieri praised teachers and staff in a released statement for following procedure and keeping children calm during the lockdown.

"I believe the incident shows just how vigilance our staff is, and why we train our teachers, staff and children to know what to do for the safety and security of our schools,” said Alfieri in a statement. 

“Our teachers were calm, so our children were calm. We are grateful to the Livingston Police Department, the school Principal [Cynthia Healy] and her staff for their leadership in this safe and appropriate response to what thankfully was a very minor incident."

As the lockdown was lifted, an email was sent out to Harrison Elementary School parents and staff members informing them that it was a false alarm, said Lehren.

All Livingston schools have an “alert system” for school emergencies, said Lehren. In addition to daily police walkthroughs at the schools, the district upgraded its rigorous security systems during the summer — such as adding more surveillance cameras in schools and locking systems — in response to the 2012 shooting at Newtown, Conn.