Cambridge School Locked Down During Police Investigation Friday

Cambridge Elementary School was placed on lockdown Friday morning after a misunderstanding led to a report of a suspicious person inside the school.

At about 8:20 a.m. this morning, police said a mother was taking her child to the before school program, while an unidentified man was standing behind them as they awaited access to the school. As the parent entered after being buzzed in by a staff member, the man followed them inside the school, according to police.

When the parent took her child to the before school program, a paraprofessional at the school asked if the unidentified male was a relative of hers, to which she replied no. At that point, staff lost track of where the male had gone and the principal was alerted, police said.

South Brunswick Police arrived at Cambridge and placed the school on lockdown before the official school day began, as there were about a dozen students already in the building for the before school program, according to police.

Buses arriving with students were held back a few blocks away from the school, as police searched the area for the unidentified male. After a search determined the male was not inside the school, the lockdown was released and normal operations resumed at about 10:30 a.m.

Soon thereafter, it was determined the unidentified male was a parent at the school, who entered the building without checking in to leave a note for a teacher at Cambridge who was absent today. The subsitute teacher passed the note along and police contacted the parent who left the note.

"There was some concern from family and staff members. We wanted to be cautious and make sure the school is a safe environment," said police spokesman Sgt. Jim Ryan. "We explained to the parent the normal procedure for doing something like this and the parent was remorseful for causing a problem."