East Millsboro Elementary was placed on SECURE status earlier this week.
East Millsboro Elementary in the Indian River School District was placed on a lockdown Monday and Tuesday because unidentified people were spotted on or near the school campus.
According to a district spokesperson, the school was placed on SECURE status, which means that all students are kept inside the building.
All doors to the outside are kept locked, which is standard practice at all times.
Otherwise, the school operated as normal.
The Millsboro Police were investigating the situation.
According to Police Chief Brian Calloway, the first incident Monday involved a child on a playground who reported they saw someone in the woods, with potentially a weapon.
The police responded and the school was on a “low-level shutdown” and a Delaware State Police helicopter was sent over the school but could not find anyone.
The second report was Tuesday, when a custodian also reported someone in the woods.
The police went through the woods and could not find anyone, but sent additional units to the school to ensure safety when the children were getting off and on the bus.
“Later that day, we were actually able to locate they have a camera around where the second sighting was, and they were able to pull up that camera and found that it was a deer,” Calloway said. “On Monday, when I went to the woods, there were multiple deer there. So as of right now, it looks certainly the second incident was confirmed through cameras that it was a deer. The first was not, but I would (think it’s) highly likely that it was the same thing.”
The SECURE status occurred Monday during the school day and Tuesday during after school hours.
School Principal Monica McCurry sent a call home to families Wednesday explaining the situation, and she stated that at no time was the safety of students in jeopardy and that the school was working with the Millsboro Police Department to investigate the incidents.
Raised in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, Jarek earned a B.A. in journalism and a B.A. in political science from Temple University in 2021. After running CNN’s Michael Smerconish’s YouTube channel, Jarek became a reporter for the Bucks County Herald before joining Delaware LIVE News.
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