Code Blue Alert At Dufief Elementary School On Monday

UPDATE: The woman who entered Dufief Elementary School on Monday and triggered a had asked to use the bathroom, said Dufief Elementary Principal Dorothy J. Reitz.

Reitz updated parents about the event at a PTA meeting on Tuesday evening.

Reitz said two women came to the office on Monday afternoon. They said they were waiting for a third person who was picking up a child from school. Both women signed in as guests and were given visitor passes. One woman asked to use the bathroom and she was instructed to use the faculty bathroom.

The woman did not return from the bathroom after several minutes, said Reitz, and so they called a Code Blue alert, to ensure all students were accounted for, and she called the police.

Reitz said she also became suspicious after questioning the other woman, who waited at the office when her friend left to go to the bathroom.

"As her story unraveled it was full of lies," Reitz told parents at the PTA meeting.

Everyone was safe, but a teacher realized her wallet was missing. The woman had left the building before police arrived.

Students were told it was a drill but were not given further information about what happened on Monday. Reitz said that everyone followed Code Blue procedure properly.

"They did exactly what they were supposed to," said Reitz. "The teachers had their attendence to us in 3 to 5 minutes, even before the police came. We knew we did not have a kidnapping, we knew we did not have a hostage situation and because I called the Code Blue and because I called the woman over the P.A. she was long gone."

Reitz said adult visitors will not be allowed to use faculty bathrooms in the future.

The school's Site Emergency Team, made up of faculty members, will hold a debrief meeting to discuss other ways to improve security in the building in the aftermath of this incident.

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issued a Code Blue alert on Monday afternoon after a woman entered the school and created a disturbance in the main office.

Police said a woman, who was not associated with the school, came into the office, stole an employee's wallet and then left the building just before 3 p.m. on Monday.

Montgomery County Police spokesperson Angela Cruz said the woman was known to one person at the school.

Dana Tofig, Public Information Officer at Montgomery County Public Schools, said the administration reacted when the woman did not return to the office.

"In an abundance of caution, the school went into Code Blue, which is not a full lockdown, but does restrict people coming in and out of the school," Tofig said in an email.

Police arrived at the school at 2:58 p.m., but the woman had already left the building.

Cruz said police have identified a suspect.

The school notified parents through a Connect-Ed automated telephone message, which was also emailed to parents around 3:40 p.m.

The message said all students were accounted for and school was dismissed at the normal time.