A student was allegedly held at gunpoint and robbed in the third floor of the Arts and Letters building. A kindergarten to 8th grade school that is on FAU’s Boca campus, Alexander D. Henderson University School, was also immediately informed.
Henderson put the entire school into a code red lockdown, where no one is allowed on or off the campus until the alert is lifted. All after-school activities were also canceled. This was done in order to make sure all children remained safe during the situation, even if there is an unexpected asthma attack, according to Tammy Ferguson, the principal of Henderson.
A fourth grade class was locked inside the art room when the code red was announced. One girl in the class had an asthma attack. “We called 911 and she was taken to the hospital immediately by ambulance,” Ferguson said. “The parent of that student called us this morning to thank us for taking care of her daughter and handling it in such a professional manner.”
Many students were frustrated with how long the lockdown lasted, as teachers remained with them for over two hours.
“I initially found out about the lockdown through a phone call from the FAU alert message system,” said Carlos Santiago, the athletics department coach.
Ferguson sent out an email to all parents of students stating how all students behaved well during the unique situation, and how students were encouraged to remain positive in the situation. A parent replied to the email the next morning:
“Many thanks to you, and all the school faculty for entertaining and keeping the children positive in a tough situation. It is comforting as a parent to know our children are in such capable hands. [My daughter] told me it was the best day ever! She had a lot of fun with all the crafts & activities. Thanks again”
At 4:13 p.m. Thursday evening, the code red lockdown was lifted and all children were released to go home.
jordandunne • May 12, 2017 at 10:37 am
it was hours before the ambulance came and i could not breath at first i passed out and the my lungs were closing on me .
jordandunne • May 12, 2017 at 10:33 am
hi you i’m the girl who passed out in the 4th grade class my name is jordan dunne and i’m now in 8th grade . i would like to say my mother was not happy with the way the school took care of me at all the teacher i had called the nurse for an hour and my lungs were closing and she never thought to call 911 so the i was trying to talk and she would not let me i was trying to tell her that she should call 911. but the students were the real heros they made me calm down and they were helping me out a lot . then the teacher finally calls 911. my mom was on the way to pick me up and she was the ambulance and the school called her and told her i was in there .