Mt. Lebanon Schools Told To Shelter In Place During Police Incident

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MT. LEBANON (KDKA) -- The first day of school was anything but routine at two schools in the Mt. Lebanon School District.

An incident was reported to Mt. Lebanon Police at 10:21 Monday morning. It included an unverified potential of a weapon being involved or access to a weapon.

Initially police did not know with certainty where the person was, so the decision was made to issue a "shelter in place directive" for Washington Elementary and Mellon Middle schools. The schools were within 1,000 feet of where the incident was reported.

Mt. Lebanon School District says it initiated the procedure for "shelter in place," which involves no one entering or exiting the building. Otherwise, normal school activities continue.

The district also sent home a letter to parents of both schools advising them that "…all students would remain inside the building and all exterior exits remain locked and secured."  It went on to reassure parents the steps were being taken "out of an abundance of caution" and "at no point were our students or staff in any danger."

In fact, a spokesman for the school district says the students were probably unaware anything was going on. The staff, on the other hand, were fully aware of the situation.

If needed in a situation like this, the Mt. Lebanon Police have systems in place to alert neighbors through Lebo Alert and reverse 911 calls. Neither of those were implemented Monday.

Mt. Lebanon Police Lt. Duane Fisher says, as it turns out, the situation was resolved quickly and peacefully and no weapon was found.

After a total of about 20 minutes, the "shelter in place" was lifted and the schools returned to their normal day well in time for recess.

Lt. Fisher says there was a similar incident involving Hoover Elementary School near the end of the last school year. That incident also ended peacefully without incident.