No evidence to back up student's report about gun at Chester Academy

BY ERIKA NORTON
CHESTER — Chester Academy was on lockdown for three hours on Tuesday afternoon, after a student reported seeing a man with a gun in the school — a report later determined to be unfounded.
The Chester police said they received a 911 call at 1:20 p.m. from a single student, who reported the information. There were no reports of shots fired, and no reports from others seeing a man with a gun.
The student’s call triggered the Chester Academy to initiate a lockdown, a lockout protocol at the Chester Elementary school, a massive response from police, and panic among concerned Chester parents and family. Other school districts in the area conducted lockouts.
The report was deemed unfounded after the Town of Chester Police conducted video reviews and SWAT officers swept each room at the school.
No man with a gun was found inside the school. There were no injuries.
By 4:30 p.m., Chester Academy lifted its lockdown. The SWAT officers moved students to the auditorium for dismissal as they did their room-by-room sweep, according to Chester Police Chief Dan Doellinger.
The students were released from the auditorium because they fell into three groups: those who get picked up, those who drive, and those who take the bus. Students were released by group, and teachers and staff left at the same time.
No charges filedDoellinger said the student who made the call is part of the BOCES Special Education program housed in one wing of the Chester Academy. A lockdown drill was actually scheduled for 1:30 p.m. that same day. This student made the call at 1:20 p.m.
No charges had been filed as of Wednesday morning. Doellinger said he did not know if charges are expected in the case.
“I do not know if we would be able to successfully prove that there was an intent to cause the situation that was caused based on the mental capacity of the student,” Doellinger said.
‘Scariest and surreal experience’About 650 students attend Chester Academy. English teacher Dayanara Hernandez-Garcia recounted her experience on Facebook:
“On this Teacher Appreciation Day, I’m appreciative of the fast acting law enforcement team that responded to an ‘active shooter’ false alarm call,” she wrote. “In my 21 years of teaching and practicing ‘drills’ this was by far the scariest and surreal experience.
“I’m so proud of my 8th period class of 7th graders who were calm and collected,” she continued. “It was frightening having to be escorted out of a classroom in a single file by the SWAT team with our arms raised up in the air. What world we live in? I’m just proud of the community I love and work in; we work together in time of need.”
Angela Conti rushed to the school when she heard the news. Her daughter works at the Chester Academy, and her nieces and nephews attend the school.
On Facebook, she said that her daughter Anna was allowed to leave the building around 5:45 p.m.
“When she came out, I hugged her so tight and so long, then stepped back and checked to see that she truly was in one piece. She was!!!!!!! Thank you God!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!,” she posted.
She also said how thankful she was for the many first responders.
Huge responseDoellinger thinks about 150 officers from the surrounding areas responded to the situation at Chester Academy.
Other school districts in the area, including Goshen and Washingtonville, initiated a lockout, in which instruction continues as usual but no one is allowed in or out of the school buildings as a precaution. These districts lifted their lockouts around 2:30 p.m., which delayed dismissal times and bus runs by up to 30 minutes in some cases.
Orange-Ulster BOCES also went into lockdown for about 40 minutes, and programs at the Chester Learning Center, including STRIVE, went into a lockout. At no time was anyone in any danger, the school system said.
At Chester Academy on Wednesday morning, Doellinger said that they had have extra patrols at the school, but that the Chester police perform regular foot patrols of the school during the school day since the Newtown, Conn., school shooting tragedy.
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