Lockdowns lifted in Ithaca, Cayuga Heights after police end search for armed suspect
A police pursuit of armed suspects prompted lockdowns at Cornell University's North Campus, Ithaca High School, Boynton Middle School and Cayuga Heights Elementary School on Tuesday afternoon.
Ithaca Police were dispatched to the 600 block of Hancock Street at approximately 1:23 p.m., according to a media release. Police believe two groups of people exchanged gunfire. One group fled in a vehicle seen traveling northbound on Route 13 near the Cayuga Heights exit.
One suspect was apprehended by the Tompkins County Sheriff’s Office after the vehicle came to a stop at a residential front yard in the area of The Parkway and Klinewoods Road within the Village of Cayuga Heights, police said.
Two other suspects in the vehicle fled on foot, one of who was later apprehended. The third suspect is still at large and believed to be in the Village of Cayuga Heights, last seen running through residential yards in the area of Upland and Cayuga Park Road.
Law enforcement concluded their search without apprehending the third suspect. The second group involved in the gunfire has not been identified.
The two suspects who were apprehended were subsequently arraigned and remanded to the Tompkins County Jail, according to a media release from the Tompkins County Sheriff's office.
Shelter in place lifted at Cornell, Ithaca Schools
"Person with gun in Cayuga Heights," Cornell University tweeted at 3:27 p.m. "North Campus shelter in place. Lock doors/windows. Avoid area. Check email for more details."
CornellALERT: Ithaca campus. Person with gun in Cayuga Heights. North Campus shelter in place. Lock doors/windows. Avoid area. Check email for more details.
— Cornell University (@Cornell) November 9, 2021
All events scheduled for Tuesday night on North Campus were cancelled, the school announced.
The local schools notified parents to not pick up students until further notice. They lifted their lockdown shortly before 4:00 p.m. The ICSD Board of Education meeting was postponed due to the search.
"For all of us here on campus, it’s been a difficult, frightening few days," wrote Cornell University President Martha E. Pollock in a statement published Tuesday evening. "Sunday’s bomb scare, followed, just two days later, by today’s shelter-in-place while a gunman was being pursued near North Campus, would have been stressful enough in ordinary times."
Pollock asked the university community to take care of themselves and each other.
"Check in with your families and friends; recognize that this is an exceptionally stressful time; and if you feel that you are struggling, remember that there are many options available on campus that can help," she wrote.
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This article originally appeared on Ithaca Journal: Cornell University shelters in place as police pursue armed suspect
