Community Corner

Holbrook Robbery Leads To Sachem School Lockdown

Several schools in the Holbrook section of the Sachem School District had to go to modified lockdown yesterday as police attempted to track down three suspects who held up the CVS on Main Street and fled in an unknown direction.

According to police, three masked men, one of whom was armed with a gun, entered the CVS at around 3 a.m. yesterday and stole cash from both the registers and the safe. Police say they also took a wallet off of a person inside the store at the time and then fled in a vehicle without firing a shot. 

Witnesses were unable to describe the getaway vehicle and police confirmed that the robbers didn't take any drugs from the store.

When police were called to the scene Sachem security was notified of the incident, according to a staffer at the Sachem security office. The security personnel member informed Patch that as a matter of protocol, the office ordered a "modified lockdown" of all the area schools, including Seneca Middle School, Sequoya Middle School, Merrimac Elementary School,  Grundy Avenue Elementary School, Nokomis Elementary School, Tamarac Elementary School and possibly others.

A modified lockdown is different from a full lockdown in that teachers are not required to hold students inside the classroom.

"Kids are not allowed outside of the schools or on the school grounds, but they can carry on normal functions inside the building," the security spokesman said. According to the staffer the office was notified at around 1 p.m. on Monday that they could lift the lockdown. Messages to Wayne Wilson, the security director at Sachem were not returned. 

Sachem parents on social networking sites and in messages to Patch said that while they were glad that school officials did not unduly alarm the children, they were concerned that they were never notified of the incident through the schools robotic phone messaging system.

Calls to Sachem Superintendent James Nolan were not immediately returned. Patch will update this story with any comment from district officials regarding the incident. 

Sixth squad detectives are currently working the CVS robbery case. As of print time, no arrests have been made. 


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