A gunman entered South Orangetown Middle School this morning but was disarmed by the schools superintendent, who tackled the man and wrestled the gun away from him, police said.
No one was injured.
As many as three shots were fired, but it was not clear if those rounds came from the gunman or the massive police response, officials said. The gunman has been taken into custody, according to Orangetown Police Chief Kevin Nulty. The man has some ties to the schools, but police were not immediately sure what they were. When police found the man inside the building, Superintendent Ken Mitchell had the suspect pinned to the ground and had taken the gun away from him.
Mitchell, 54, was not hurt. The first reports of the shooting were called into Orangetown police by a school security guard at 11:30 a.m. Students in the school, which serves grades six through eight, remained in the classroom as police searched the building. Frantic parents tried to enter the schools, but were stopped by police.
Police were setting up an information center at the Sons of Italy building on 46 Van Wyck Road., Blauvelt. "I'm scared to death," said Jennifer Gura, whose two sons, 11, and 14, were in the building, as she stood on the corner of Van Wyck and Erie Street. Students were sending text messages to parents from inside the school.
Kathy Fidlow, whose 14-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter were in the school, said she had gotten a message from her children telling her that everyone was in the school on the floor.
"The kids are terrified," she said. Nulty said the Orangetown police used an emergency plan that they had developed after the Columbine shootings 10 years ago.
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