REUTERS – Schools in two Connecticut towns were in lockdown on Monday, the first day children returned to class since Friday’s massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown.
All schools in Ridgefield, Connecticut, were in lockdown because of a suspicious person who might be armed, police said. In nearby Redding, schools were locked down as a precaution, police said.
Ridgefield is about 20 miles (30 km) from Newtown, site of Friday’s elementary school massacre where a gunman shot dead 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
“We’re looking for a suspicious person at an elementary school,” said a dispatcher at the Ridgefield Police Department.
State police in Newtown were aware of the situation, and said local police were handling it.
“I’m aware of that situation in the town of Ridgefield. … There’s a report of a suspicious person, a suspicious person that may or may not be armed,” Lieutenant Paul Vance of Connecticut State Police told a news conference.
In Redding, about 10 miles (16 km) from Newtown, police gave no indication of whether there was a threat.
“Schools are in lockdown as a precautionary measure, that’s all I can say,” a Redding police dispatcher said. (Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)
