Schools in Towns Near Newtown in Lockdown
Schools in two Connecticut towns were in lockdown on Monday, the first day children returned to class since Friday’s massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown.
All schools in Ridgefield, Connecticut, were in lockdown because of a suspicious person who might be armed, police said. In nearby Redding, schools were locked down as a precaution, police said.
Ridgefield is about 20 miles (30 km) from Newtown, site of Friday’s elementary school massacre where a gunman shot dead 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
“We’re looking for a suspicious person at an elementary school,” said a dispatcher at the Ridgefield Police Department.
State police in Newtown were aware of the situation, and said local police were handling it.
“I’m aware of that situation in the town of Ridgefield. … There’s a report of a suspicious person, a suspicious person that may or may not be armed,” Lieutenant Paul Vance of Connecticut State Police told a news conference.
In Redding, about 10 miles (16 km) from Newtown, police gave no indication of whether there was a threat.
“Schools are in lockdown as a precautionary measure, that’s all I can say,” a Redding police dispatcher said.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
