Wilson High School placed on lockdown following phone call threat

Wilson High School and Whitfield Elementary School were placed on lockdown Monday mid-day following a threat called into the high school’s office. Police arrived on-scene to secure the campus, a few hours later, the schools transitioned to a lockout policy. Monday night, the District announced that Police determined there was no evidence that the threat was credible.

According to an announcement made on the Wilson School District website, today at 11:30am, the High School office received a phone call from an unidentified individual claiming that they were coming to “shoot up the school.”

- Advertisement -

The administrative team immediately followed protocols and placed the high school and Whitfield Elementary School on lockdown and began an investigation. Police immediately responded to the building to provide added security for students and staff, and stationed themselves around the perimeter of the building.

In the statement, the District said all students currently at home on open campus needed to remain at home.

At the same time, there was an ambulance dispatched to the High School for an unrelated medical emergency.

- Advertisement -

The District is advising that all students and staff are secure within the high school buildings and that they are working “quickly and collaboratively” to resolve the situation.

Around 1pm, the District release another announcement stating that “due to the heightened presence of police on our High School Campus, we are going to move our students from a lock down in place to a lock out. This means that students will be able to move between classrooms, but no one will be able to exit or enter the building. Students who need to transition between the upper and lower house buildings will do so within a secured police perimeter. Any students currently out on internship or open campus should not return to the school. Any student with open campus or internships who are currently in the building should remain here.”

The District says they will continue to provide updates as they become available.

Updates by Wilson School District: wilsonsd.org/category/announcements/

As of 7pm, District officials say they are continuing to work collaboratively with the Spring Township Police. “At this time, there is no evidence that the threat we received today is credible. Therefore, the Spring Township Police have advised district administration that we can resume all school activities tomorrow as scheduled. As an added precaution, we are planning to have an expanded police presence at all our buildings. If the district receives any relevant additional information as the Spring Township Police continues their investigation, we will share it with our community.”

- Advertisement -
Berks Weekly
Berks Weekly
Berks Weekly is an independent and locally owned digital newspaper covering the City of Reading and Berks County. Subscribe today: berksweekly.com/subscribe
Reading
clear sky
42.6 ° F
44.8 °
40.7 °
63 %
3.3mph
0 %
Fri
52 °
Sat
51 °
Sun
59 °
Mon
53 °
Tue
46 °

Latest News

34,851FansLike
93,750FollowersFollow
2,008SubscribersSubscribe