Gunshots-like sound sends Slingerlands Elementary School into lockout

Jan 16, 2019 Diego Cagara Bethlehem, Crime, News, Schools

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BETHLEHEM — Slingerlands Elementary School was placed in a lockout after an individual reported hearing what sounded like gunshots near the building on Wednesday, Jan. 16 at 12:58 p.m.

According to Bethlehem Police Cmdr. Adam Hornick, a lockout “allows the school day and educational process to continue, and prohibits outside activity … this provides for minimum disruption to ensure safety while the investigation takes place.” Students and school staff remained safe and were not allowed to leave the building while police arrived and combed the surrounding area, including neighborhoods and the nearby wooded area, extensively.

The lockout was lifted by the police and school officials within 45 minutes, and established that the purported sound did not come from a firing gun.

This shooting scare comes just one day after a bomb threat was found in a note in a women’s restroom at the Voorheesville Central School District’s Middle School-High School campus, although the threat was deemed not credible and it is still under investigation.