On Tuesday, Oct. 16 an unknown male carrying a large bag entered the Abington High School main office at about 11:30 AM, demanding to speak to Principal Sullivan. Due to his “appearance and conduct,” Dr. Sullivan asked him to leave, according to an email she sent to the community. When he continued to demand to enter the building, School Resource Officer (SRO) Beach escorted the unknown male out of the school.

Abington Police, Fire, and medics were notified, responded and removed the male minutes after the incident occurred.

Because students and staff recently participated in ALICE training, the staff in the main office were able to control the situation and keep the students safe.

Shortly after the incident, Assistant Principal Louko sent out an email to the Abington High staff thanking them for their “quick thinking” and thanking the Abington Police and Fire departments for their continued support.

At the beginning of period six, an announcement was made from the main office directing teachers to inform their students about the incident. Letters also went out to the community via Constant Contact.

My friends and I were at lunch when this event occurred. A friend of mine received a text from a student that was in the main office during the incident explaining what was happening. This gave my friends and I the thought to go back to our classroom because we felt unsafe where we were. There were only about five minutes left of lunch. We were uncomfortably close to the main office. Instead, we trusted the staff and SRO that arrived on the scene that it was under control and we were safe. But, our ALICE training taught us that we had the option to leave, if we felt it was necessary.

The security of the new school, including the security cameras, SROs, locked doors, and ALICE training are all factors in keeping the staff and students safe.