Bellmore NY, Shooting – The three elementary schools that are part of the Merrick School District – Birch, Chatterton, and Levy-Lakeside – were all locked down, and Babylon Road, which is the road that leads into Levy-Lakeside, was blocked off to traffic. The administration strongly discouraged parents from visiting their children’s schools. They vowed that nobody would be able to enter or leave them under any circumstances.
According to the administration at the school, the children remained in their classrooms with the curtains drawn and the lights turned off. They were required to consume lunch in their respective classrooms. An assistant superintendent at the Merrick School District named Dr. Christine Grucci made a phone call to all of the district’s parents to alert them that the schools had been placed in lockdown mode.
Grucci reassured everyone, “Please rest assured that all children and staff are safe inside of our buildings,” which can be found in the quote below. The lockdown at the Merrick School District was removed by the police at 2:00 p.m., and students were able to be dismissed as usual at 2:50 p.m. The North Merrick School District entered a “lock-out” mode, which meant that no one was permitted to leave the schools and that only chosen employees were allowed into them. However, the school day continued as normal inside the buildings itself.
According to David Feller, who is the superintendent of North Merrick, the facilities have been put into lock-out mode as a “precaution.” The police informed him that there was no need to place a lockdown order on any schools located north of Merrick Avenue Middle School.
According to Arnold Goldstein, the superintendent of the North Bellmore School District, the lock-out order was withdrawn at lunchtime after being in effect for much of the morning. The lock-out mode was implemented in the North Bellmore School District as well.
