Windham High School dismissed early Wednesday after a threat involving a firearm, according to police and district officials.
Superintendent Tracy Youngberg posted on the district's Facebook page that police directed administrators to place Windham High School and the Central Office in lockdown after receiving a call stating that there was an armed intruder at Windham High School.
Out of an abundance of caution, police asked that all other Windham Public Schools go into lockdown, according to Youngberg. Once Windham High School was dismissed, safety protocols in other school buildings were lifted.
Officers from Willimantic and Eastern Connecticut State University conducted an in-depth search of Windham High School. According to Willimantic Police, officers determined that no active threat was imminent, and no firearm was found in the high school.
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“This is the third threat against a public school in Connecticut in two days,” Willimantic Police Chief Paul Hussey wrote in a press release. “The safety of our students and community is our priority, and this threat will be fully investigated by the Willimantic Police with the goal of determining who is responsible for making these threats.”
Police at the scene told NBC Connecticut they were interviewing two students in connection with the incident, but have since said no one has been interviewed at this point.
Recognizing the heightened level of anxiety, Superintendent Youngberg determined that dismissing Windham High School early was prudent, according to a post on the school district’s page.
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“We acknowledge that the timing of this emergency response created additional stress for our students who many have been caught on buses, or just beginning their school day,” Youngberg wrote in the Facebook post. “We also acknowledge that Windham High School students and staff were witness to a full police search that is quite frightening.”
Crisis teams will be available in each building for students. The school district requested increased police presence at the high school Thursday morning.
Eastern Connecticut State University had issued a shelter-in-place order, but it has since been lifted and the university has resumed normal operations. Classes resumed at 12 p.m.
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