Alexandria schools back in-person after Monday active shooter threat

Apr. 18—ALEXANDRIA — Students at Alexandria-Monroe Jr./Sr. High School returned to in-person learning Tuesday after an active shooter threat at the school Monday caused a lockdown, an extensive police search and an evacuation.

The school had received the active shooter threat through a phone call at 10:03 a.m. Monday. Alexandria police and the Madison County Sheriff's Department initially responded, according to Indiana State Police Sgt. Scott Keegan.

By 11 a.m. Monday, the parking lot of the school was swarming with an estimated 30 police cars and other emergency vehicles. Armed officers combed the parking lot, looking into vehicles.

Police searched the building at least twice and found no active threat. They reported no injuries, no firearms were discovered and no shots fired.

Late Monday afternoon, Madison County Sheriff John Beeman told The Herald Bulletin that police had a suspect in the active shooter threat. As of Tuesday afternoon, police did not have a suspect in custody.

At Monday night's Alexandria City Council meeting, police Chief Michael Montgomery said the active shooter threat was not a prank.

Superintendent Melissa Brisco said Tuesday that the school resource officer — an Alexandria police officer assigned to the school — put both the high school and elementary schools (both are on the same campus) on lockdown Monday after the threat was received. No one was allowed in or out of either school building without police permission.

The power to dismiss, Brisco said, was in the hands of law enforcement. After police deemed the building safe, the decision to dismiss became the school corporation's.

The superintendent confirmed that students were interviewed by police Monday and later patted down before being taken by bus to First Baptist Church, about a mile away, where parents were waiting.

In order to pick up students at the church, parents were required to have a valid ID and be registered on Harmony, an online site the school uses to store student information and communicate with parents and legal guardians.

Some parents of elementary school students were frustrated that the building remained on lockdown until after the end of the school day. Others criticized the flow of information from the school corporation.

"Why are you making a post like this, but I still have no idea what's going on with my kids at the elementary school?" Eric Anderson commented in response to a note from the school corporation thanking those involved in the effort Monday to make the school and students safe.

Brisco said she understood parents' desire to see their children but noted that police were making decisions in both buildings.

"Police and the school's first and ultimate goal was to keep everyone safe and accounted for," Brisco said. "When we're on a lockdown, no one can come in or out, period."

Some parents also expressed reservations about the school returning to in-person learning Tuesday.

"I need more information before I feel that the school has my kids safety in top priority," Jackie Jones-Sowinski commented on the Alexandria Community School Corporation's Facebook page.

"I'm their parent. I can handle the facts and I want them if you want me to keep my child in this school."

On Monday, students, parents, school staff, police and other emergency personnel were confronted by the dreadful possibility that Alexandria had become the latest target in a string of school shootings across the country.

Seth Chester, a junior at the high school, said it was fortunate that the threat came while students were in class.

"People weren't passing or in hallways, so that's good," he said Monday. "We were in class for about 30 minutes, and then at some point, some police came by and they were letting us know."

Seth's father, Aaron Chester, is a pastor at Alexandria Nazarene Church near the school complex. At the church Monday morning, he looked outside and realized something "big" was going on.

"Parents were walking, coming into our driveway thinking they were coming to our church," Aaron Chester said, "but we hadn't had any conversation with police."

He said it was a relief that the report of an active shooter had turned out to be a false alarm.

"It's kind of crazy that this is how we respond in situations," the elder Chester said. "It is a little scary when we have our kids in these possible situations. But it's good to know that no one's hurt and things are safe.

"As a parent, you're going to struggle because until you see your child or hear from your child, nothing is really OK."

Officers from Grant County, Anderson, Pendleton, Henry County, Edgewood and ISP responded to the crisis along with ambulances from Lafayette Township and the Alexandria Fire Department.

Indiana 9 was blocked off through Alexandria as police and other emergency personnel worked at the scene. St. Mary School in Alexandria was also on lockdown Monday.

"It was an overwhelming response from law enforcement," said Keegan, the state police sergeant. "It shows the dedication to keeping students safe. This is a great outcome for this kind of call. The threat was taken very seriously."

In an April 12 article published in The Herald Bulletin, Brisco that the possibility of a school shooting weighed heavily upon her.

"This is something that I wake up every day and it's one of the first things I think about, and it's something that I think about when I go to bed at night, every night," said Brisco, speaking in the aftermath of a March 27 school shooting in Memphis.

She noted that the school district conducts active shooter drills and has an alert system in place. The district's safety plan is reviewed quarterly and local law enforcement are included, Brisco said.

Alexandria schools use two school resources officers from the Alexandria Police Department, one in the elementary and one in the junior/senior high school.

One of those officers, Bob Willoughby, said in the April 12 article that the department conducts active shooter drills in each of the school buildings every other month.

In addition to the school resource officers, the Alexandria Police Department employs three patrolmen. In the small city, they would likely be near the school and could respond quickly while additional officers are on the way.

The Alexandria Police Department recently purchased three new ballistic shields and eight new rifles through American Rescue Plan funding.

Follow Caleb Amick on Twitter @AmickCaleb. Contact him at caleb.amick@heraldbulletin.com or 765-648-4254.