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The sounds that several who heard them believed to be shots fired that prompted two lockouts at New Rochelle High School on Thursday were fireworks, according to multiple reports.
The sounds came from a 16-year-old boy who was shooting fireworks in the backyard of a home near the high school, according to LoHud.com.
Update 4 p.m.
According to Tanya Hunt, a media specialist that works with the district, the lockout was lifted at approximately 3:50 p.m. and students were being dismissed.
Original report, 3:30 p.m.
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. – The New Rochelle High School will not be dismissing students at their regularly scheduled time due to the continued investigation into shots that were fired nearby.
The high school entered its lockout protocol shortly after 12:22 p.m. on Thursday, after the New Rochelle Police Department advised district officials that there was a report of shots fired in the area.
Lockout procedures – which includes bringing all students into the building and securing all exterior doors while classes continued – were continued until 1:28 p.m., but approximately an hour later, the school was forced back into lockout as the investigation continued.
“Currently we are in lockout and will not be dismissing students until further notice,” New Rochelle High School Assistant Principal Joseph Starvaggi said. “We ask parents to keep the area clear and we will update you when the situation changes.”
Alex Corleone, a senior at the high school who was off campus when the shots were fired, said that the school had lockout protocol enacted no more than five minutes after the report.
“There was a loud noise, a big boom, that shocked us. We didn’t expect it at all, it just came out of no where,” he said. “I got to the school about five minutes after the shots, and they just told us it was a lockout. Hopefully it was just a bunch of dumb kids messing around and no one got hurt.”
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