Crime & Safety

UPDATE: Police Explain Reason For Lockdown at Western School

Police say it was a cautionary measure due to an alleged robbery nearby that did not involve a weapon. Principal says children were safe.

UPDATED Friday, Sept. 20, 2013, at 4:15 a.m.

The following note was sent home to parents by Western School Principal Laura Main regarding a lockdown at the school on Thursday:


As some of you may have heard, we had a lock-down at Western today for about an hour. All are safe and were well taken care of by our teachers and staff. There was a situation in the community which caused us to take this precaution.

Thank you to all for staying put and not calling the school, knowing we would take good care of your child. This was very helpful as we could put our complete focus on taking care of your children and insuring they were safe at all times. As always is the case, my priority is on our students, which is why I am communicating this after the fact.

We have communicated to the students that they did a great job. If you have any questions of concerns, please let us know.

Sincerely,
Laura F. Main, Principal Western Elementary

Original article posted Thursday, Sept. 19, 2013: 

Western Elementary School in Naugatuck was locked down for about 45 minutes Thursday after someone reported being robbed nearby.

Police received a complaint from an 18-year-old man who said his wallet was taken by force near the Mobil Gas Station at 469 Rubber Ave., next door to Naugatuck High School, at 11:30 a.m., said Lt. Bryan Cammarata, spokesman for the Naugatuck Police Department. 

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"It was a single suspect who fled into a wooded area, which leads up toward Western School," he said. "Due to the location of the suspect, we did a cautionary lockdown at Western."

Police did not immediately locate the suspect, who did not brandish a weapon during the alleged robbery attempt, he said. The case remains under investigation.

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A note went home to parents explaining the situation. The high school was not placed on lockdown because students had a scheduled early dismissal. 

"As best we know, we feel like right now this appears to be an isolated incident," Cammarata said. 


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