Parents, principal meet after man with gun let in Darby Twp. school
DARBY, Pa. (WPVI) -- Emotional and angry parents at a Delaware County school met with the principal on Monday after a man with drugs and a gun ended up inside Park Lane Elementary School last week.
The Darby Borough Police Chief called it a major security breach.
Around 9 a.m. Friday, a shirtless 21-year-old Nahzer Sabree was seen outside acting strangely and shirtless.
Still, he was buzzed into the school and let in to talk to the principal about a bag he supposedly misplaced.
Police say the school's panic button was never pushed and they weren't notified until three hours later when Sabree returned, angrily demanding the bag.
It turns out he was carrying narcotics and a stolen handgun that he tried to pull on arresting officers.
Monday's meeting was closed, but Action News caught up with parents furious they didn't hear about this incident until hours after it happened.
"I really feel like my child is not safe," said parent Rashidah Elahi. "How is my child going to be safe? It's upsetting and I'm going to pull him from school today."
"The school admitted there were things that could have happened better in hindsight," said parent Kenneth Wilson. "There's a lot of passion behind everything because, reality is, if the situation was worse they'd be planning funerals for their children."
Police say the principal failed to follow procedure and may have put the lives of the school children at risk.
The school district has not commented following Monday's meeting.
School officials issued the following statement last week:
"It was questioned as to why Dr. Watson-Bouie did not push the panic button which alerts all local police agencies that there is an armed intruder in the building.
It was not utilized as Dr. Watson Bouie had no evidence that there was an armed intruder.
The young man has been arrested by the Darby Police Department and there were no injuries to our students, staff, or the young man.
We are eternally grateful that Dr. Watson-Bouie handled the situation in a professional and appropriate fashion, and escorted the young man outside of the building and away from our students and staff.
We are grateful to the responding police officers for their safe handling and apprehension of the young man.
School district administration will continue to investigate this incident, gathering additional information and statements and planning for possible additional safeguards and procedures for admittance into school buildings."
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