Little Apple Post

MANHATTAN –Three schools in USD 383- Manhattan-Ogden district were temporarily on lockout Thursday. Police were investigating a report of three men in an SUV brandishing a weapon near Osage Street and Juliette Avenue.

Michele Jones, USD-383 Communications and Safety Director, said three elementary schools were in lockout for about an hour because of suspicious activity around the school. All schools were back to their regular schedules late in the day.

“A school lockout means that staff double checked that all exterior doors were locked and no one is on the playground,” Jones said. “Learning continues as normal inside the building.”

According to Riley County Police Officer Matthew Droge, “There was no evidence to support a crime was being committed at the time, but the claims made initiated an investigation,” he said.

“At this time we still can’t substantiate that a crime had occurred. What we do know is that we, as well as our area schools, take the safety of our community’s children very seriously and those who noticed that several schools in the area decided to place themselves into lock-out out of an abundance of caution are witness to that,” Droge said.

Deb Nauerth, Principal of Woodrow Wilson school confirmed her school was in the lockout today. “This was prompted after two of our lunch-playground supervisors notified me of suspicious activity in a vehicle driving on Osage by the school. I immediately notified RCPD of the situation. RCPD officers responded promptly to the call and are continuing to investigate this situation.”