WESTBROOK — In the aftermath of the May 19 school lockdown, Superintendent Peter Lancia said he’s proud of how the situation was handled.

Westbrook High School, Westbrook Regional Vocational School, Canal School and Westbrook Middle School all went into lockdown last Friday after it was reported a man with a gun entered the high school. No threat was discovered and all students were safe.

Lancia said it’s a relief that the situation wasn’t as serious as initially believed.

“It’s your worst nightmare come true when you receive a report like that,” he said. “Fortunately it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.” 

The Westbrook Police Department received a call at 9:16 a.m. on May 19 about a man with a gun and the schools immediately went into lockdown. According to a press release from Police Chief Janine Roberts, the incident involved three male students and an airsoft pistol. No criminal charges have been filed.

Airsoft guns are replicas of real weapons that use plastic, non-lethal, ammunition and are used for recreation. Roberts said “because an airsoft pistol does not expel a projectile by the action of an explosive, it is not considered a firearm by Maine law.”

The students, two 18-year-olds and one 16-year-old, were seen outside of the school in a vehicle with the airsoft gun. One of the older students was seen leaving the vehicle and entering the school by a fourth student, who had seen the gun in the vehicle. The bystander reported to a teacher that he saw the 18-year-old enter the school with a gun.

During a room-by-room search during the lockdown, police located the 18-year-old student in question. He didn’t have the airsoft gun in his possession and said he left it in the vehicle outside. According to Roberts, the airsoft gun was “recovered and confiscated.”

“Thankfully, this incident did not turn out to be a critical incident with injuries or loss of lives,” Roberts said. “The collective response by the Westbrook School Department and Westbrook Police Department and Emergency Communications was quick, succinct, coordinated, and successful.”

Lancia said he was pleased with how the police responded to the situation.

“The response from police was amazing,” he said. “I can’t say enough about how awesome they were.”

The students and staff also responded well to the lockdown, Lancia said.

“I think the lockdown was handled as by-the-book as possible,” he said. “Even in such a stressful and frightening moment, the school followed the protocol to a T and students were calm and cooperative.”

Lancia said many parents arrived at the schools that were in lockdown. Some wanted to check in on their children after the situation was over and others dismissed them. Lancia said 25-30 students were dismissed at each school.

Following the lockdown, Lancia said the schools made sure to “acknowledge the scariness of the event.” He said school counselors talked with students in groups and individually and high school Principal Kelli Deveaux visited each classroom. Lancia said school counselors were also made available to parents.

“After the situation was over we made sure extra support was available for those who needed it,” he said.

Lancia said a recent emergency response exercise helped prepare students for the May 19 incident. On May 4 the district participated in a tabletop exercise with Westbrook Public Safety to test the School Department’s emergency action plan.

“It helped pave the way for a real event or what could have been a real event,” Lancia said.

While the situation was frightening and unfortunate, Lancia said he’s happy with the response from everyone involved.

“I’m really proud of how our district handled this and am pleased with the community support,” he said.

Kate Gardner can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 125 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter: @katevgardner.

Westbrook High School went into lockdown May 19 after a student reported seeing another student bring a gun, which turned out to be an airsoft gun, into school.