Suspicious Package Prompts High School Evacuation

OLD SAYBROOK – A suspicious package at Old Saybrook High School found at 8:11 a.m. on September 11 prompted an evacuation of the school, nearby homes, and the closure of a portion of a residential road. 

The incident happened five years to the day after terrorist attacks in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania killed 2,973 people. 

A high school faculty member who conducted a normal exterior security check found a suspicious package on the west side of the high school’s main entrance, Old Saybrook Public Information Officer Lieutenant Michael Spera said, and the individual followed guidelines by contacting the police department. 

Spera said these security checks started after September 11, 2001 and doors to school facilities are locked at all times unless a faculty member is present. 

It is uncertain whether the package was left at the school over the previous weekend or that morning, Spera said. 

Officers deemed the package to be suspicious and a possible hazard so action was taken in establishing a unified command post with town public safety and school district officials, according to a joint press release from police services and the Board of Education. 

The group deemed it necessary to evacuate the school and contact the Connecticut State Police Emergency Services Unit, the release stated. 

“It was deemed a serious threat or we wouldn’t have evacuated the school,” Spera said, adding that “thirty years ago, the teacher probably would have thrown it out but there have been stories of teachers or police officers throwing things away and losing an arm.” 

The district’s bus company, M&J Bus Company, was contacted and instructed to come to the high school after completion of the Goodwin Elementary School bus run, Spera said.