WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — More details are coming to light following a reported attempted break-in at an elementary school within the Wichita Falls Independent School District on Thursday morning.
Sgt. Charlie Eipper, Public Information Officer with the Wichita Falls Police Department, said officers responded to Scotland Park Elementary school at about 8:47 a.m. on Thursday, March 30, 2023, to investigate reports of a man attempting to enter the campus.
According to Sgt. Eipper, a caller reported that a man had broken a window. Sgt. Eipper said the suspect did not make entry into the building, and that he had broken the outside glass of a double-paned window but did not enter the campus.
Sgt. Eipper said the suspect is a 34-year-old man who was wearing a green hoodie and black and white pants. He said the man was banging on the windows and attempting to break into the building.
Sgt. Eipper said the first officer arrived on the scene just over three minutes after the original call. He said several more officers arrived and had the suspect at gunpoint in under six minutes from the time of the original call.
Sgt. Eipper said an initial custody search didn’t reveal any weapons in the suspect’s possession, but a more thorough check will be conducted once the suspect is booked into jail.
According to Sgt. Eipper, the suspect was taken into custody and eventually released to the WFISD Police Department, who transported them to the Wichita County Jail.
The identity of the suspect who attempted to enter the WFISD elementary school has not been released at this time.
Sgt. Eipper said the WFISD Chief of Police or Public Information Officer will release more information on the suspect and their charges since they are the arresting agency in this case.
This is a developing story. Stick with Texoma’s Homepage for updates as more information becomes available.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: WFISD officials said in a Facebook post that the Scotland Park campus was placed on hold and students were held in their classrooms until the suspect was detained. Initially, Texoma’s Homepage reported that the campus was placed on lockdown.
Though the two terms have been used almost interchangeably in the past, they are different responses in the Standard Response Protocol Toolkit for K-12, which is used by the WFISD:
- A hold refers to a precautionary measure that requires students to remain in their classrooms to keep another area clear, like in the case of an altercation between students in the hallway.
- A secure lockout is called when there is a threat or hazard outside of the school building, such as violent or criminal activity in the neighborhood, or a dangerous animal on the playground.
- A lockdown is called when there is a threat or hazard inside the school building, from parental custody disputes to intruders to an active assailant.