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One teen charged after lockdown at Fairfield High School

One teen charged after lockdown at Fairfield High School
Posted at 4:11 PM, Nov 12, 2018
and last updated 2018-11-12 17:16:25-05

FAIRFIELD -- A Cincinnati teen is facing charges and two others may soon be as well after police say they were trespassing Friday at Fairfield High School, prompting a lockdown of the building and the nearby Fairfield Freshman School.

The thee male teens were let into the building by a student at about 11:35 a.m., along with two Fairfield High School students who were not in school that day, Fairfield Police Chief Steve Maynard told the Journal-News.

The school district said the teens entered the high school at 8800 Holden Blvd. “through a door that was opened by a current student. These individuals did not enter the building through an unlocked door or a door that was propped open.”

Two of the three teens who are not students were confronted by school staff, and one of them fled the building, according to police.

He was found just across the street from the school at the Fairfield Public Works Department building, according to Maynard.

The 16-year-old, who scaled the fence dividing the the school campus from the public works property, has been charged with criminal trespass and inducing panic, both misdemeanors, according to Maynard.

He is scheduled to be arraigned later this month in Butler County Juvenile Court.

The other teen has been identified and charges are pending. The police department is working to identify the third teen.

Maynard said the three boys who were not Fairfield students were not confronted while together, but during a search of the school. The police department is continuing to investigate why the three teens were in the school.

The sprinting teen resulted in a 90-minute lockdown at the school, but students were not in danger and no weapons were displayed, Billy Smith, district superintendent, told the Journal-News on Friday.

Due to its proximity to the high school, Fairfield Freshman School was also on lockdown during Friday’s incident.

The lockdown was lifted at about 2 p.m., but Fairfield Police remained at the school through dismissal as a precaution.

On Monday , Smith posted on the district’s Facebook page about the precautions taken by the district:

“When there is a concern in regard to safety and security, our district will always err on the side of caution. When there is a concern, we share that concern with our local police department. We are very thankful for the relationship that we have with our city and township first responders. Time and time again, they have proven to be outstanding. During our most recent incident at FHS on Friday, Nov. 9, our City of Fairfield Police Department responded immediately with a large number of officers. I hope our families find comfort in knowing that we work closely with our first responders and that they are very dedicated to the safety and security of our students and staff.”

He added:

“On Friday, some people questioned why the district posted a statement on our website and social media rather than a phone call. The situation on Friday was very fluid, and we were aware that the media outlets were reporting a safety and security issue at FHS. As a result, we did believe that it was important to get a message out to our families quickly. The quickest way to get a message out was through our website and social media. Posting these types of messages doesn’t take a lot of time, and our families can view them immediately. Making a rapid notification call to our families is a multi-step process. In addition, there is a very good chance that the information may become inaccurate by the time our families receive the message via telephone. As I mentioned earlier, this situation was very fluid and that can be very common in these types of situations.”

The Fairfield High School students involved in the incident “have received disciplinary action as a result of their violation of the student code of conduct,” the district said in a statement.

This article contains additional reporting by staff writer Michael D. Clark.