Wakefield High School Arlington Lockdown
A lockdown has been put in place at Wakefield High School in Arlington Thursday afternoon. Police are responding to a report of a possible trespasser on the school property.
The lockdown comes after several alarming incidents this week. Those include an apparent overdose in the bathroom, two separate lockdowns and now a trespasser.
Students are being asked to stay in their classrooms
Students at Wakefield High School were asked to stay in their classrooms Thursday during a lockdown following reports of a possible trespasser. The school went into lockdown for about three hours after police responded to the report.
The school division tweeted about the lockdown around 12:45 p.m. and asked parents to stay at home.
While the school was in lockdown, police searched the building and nearby neighborhoods. Officers wore helmets and carried long guns during the search, according to local news outlets.
Thankfully, there were no incidents of violence during the lockdown.
As for the second incident, which occurred later Thursday afternoon, an 18-year-old man was arrested and charged with a number of offenses related to his investigation at Wakefield. He is accused of trespassing at the school, stalking, remove/alter serial numbers and allowing access to firearm by children, police said Friday.
In the wake of these two incidents, Arlington Public Schools has canceled classes at Wakefield High and will provide counseling services to students and staff who need help processing both. Parents have also planned a march on Friday to demand action on opioid problems within the district.
Police are responding to a report of a possible trespasser
Wakefield High School in Arlington was put on lockdown shortly after 1 p.m. Thursday, after police received a report of a possible trespasser on school property.
The lockdown was lifted at dismissal time. Students were able to leave on time, and the school has not reported any injuries.
An update on the investigation was posted shortly after 3 p.m. The school tweeted that the trespasser was not on school property, and the lockdown would be lifted when the students were dismissed.
The school had been on lockdown after an earlier incident, when a student was found unconscious in a bathroom. It was believed the teen overdosed, and four other students were evaluated by medical personnel. The student’s family identified him as Sergio Flores, and a GoFundMe page was set up to help with funeral costs.
A reunification area has been set up at a nearby church
An 18-year-old man is behind bars after police arrested him Thursday night, hours before classes were to be dismissed at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. The incident followed reports that the young man had been caught trespassing on the school’s property.
An area for reunification has been set up at a nearby church. The church is close to the school and is large enough to house the student population, guardians and volunteers.
Reunification is the last step in response, and it will be crucial to lower trauma and speed up recovery. Planning and training for this task will pay major dividends.
A well-executed reunification will allow students and staff to return to their school sooner. It will also lower the stress for parents and guardians who may have to rush out to pick up their children. This can be a difficult time for them, and they may be frustrated by the heavy traffic, parking issues and confusion about how to sign their children out.
The school will be closed on Friday
A high school lockdown is on the agenda for at least a few students on the campus of Wakefield High. As of press time, no one was injured. A state of the art school security system is in place and WHS is in lockdown mode. Besides the obvious reasons of preventing an unwelcomed guest from entering the building, no students are expected to attend classes on the day of the event.
As of press time, the WHS administration staff is working the phones – er, doors. You may want to check out the school’s official website for more information. The school is located at 1001 Westchester Avenue, and is operated by the Wakefield City Schools.
