Elementary school locked down due to nearby police action
on August 30, 2011
Horace Mann Elementary School in East Oakland was locked down by school officials this afternoon while the Oakland Police Department conducted a series of arrests at a nearby home.
According to an OPD press release, early Tuesday morning the police responded to a tip that three or four armed men were conducting home invasions and robberies in East Oakland. Police were able to connect a vehicle used in a previous incident to the suspects, leading them to a house on the 5000 block of Melrose Avenue, according to the police statement.
While officers were able to arrest four of the people found in the home, a fifth suspect barricaded himself inside, according to the OPD press release.
Nearby Horace Mann Elementary School officials were alerted of the situation and the site was immediately locked down as a precautionary measure. Students and teachers were locked inside the school for several hours. Parents were not allowed to pick up their children while police handled the investigation, according to Oakland Unified School District spokesman Troy Flint.
OUSD officials said these measures were necessary until the area was cleared by the police. “Some parents were angry because they could not pick up their children any earlier but we had to keep the site locked down and secure because the incident was occurring near the school area,” said Flint. “We had to ensure the safety of the students.”
At around 4 pm, OPD officers arrested the final suspect without injury. School officials lifted the lockdown and students were dismissed, said Flint.
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