New Kensington-Arnold School District cancels high school classes due to shots fired after school
NEW KENSINGTON, Pa. (KDKA) -- School was canceled for higher schoolers in the New Kensington-Arnold School District on Wednesday.
According to the district, leaders canceled classes at Valley High School after shots were fired in an alleyway on Kenneth Avenue after school on Tuesday. It happened roughly 2 miles from the high school.
"Due to the uncertainty surrounding this incident, school for Valley High School students has been cancelled for tomorrow," a post on the district's Facebook page said on Tuesday.
Police said that shortly after the shots were fired, an unspecified amount of unidentified juveniles fled the scene. It was not immediately known if any of the kids involved are students at Valley.
In a statement to KDKA-TV, New Kensington-Arnold Superintendent Chris Sefcheck said in part:
"I made the decision to close the school today so the administrative team could develop a solid plan that prevented any carryover from this incident into the building. From the beginning, there was never a threat to our students or staff in any of the buildings."
Sefcheck added that there will be an increased police presence at the school on Friday. Additional steps have also been taken to increase supervision in the school's hallways.
The New Kensington-Arnold Police Department is investigating the incident. No arrests have been made as of Wednesday evening.
Parents react to shots fired incident
When word got out about the shots fired situation, fear set in amongst parents everywhere.
"I honestly did not want my kids coming here today for the Burrell-Valley game," parent Melinda Chapman said on Wednesday.
Chapman is a parent in the neighboring school district of Lower Burrell. Her son's middle school football team played Valley's middle school team on Wednesday.
"The suspect wasn't even caught," she said. "How do you know that kid is not going to come back and continue to try and go through with what he did not get to finish yesterday?"
