Reading Schools Shelter-In-Place After Report Of Suspicious Male

READING, MA — A shelter-in-place for three Reading schools ended almost as quickly as it began.

At approximately 3 p.m., Reading Police were dispatched to the area of Arthur B. Lord Drive for a report of a potentially suspicious individual in the woods following school dismissal.

Police, with the assistance of a K-9 unit, conducted extensive search of the area. Out of an abundance of caution, all remaining students and school staff on the campuses at Birch Meadow School, Coolidge School and Reading Memorial High School were asked to shelter in place. An RMHS softball game with Winchester had been scheduled but police made the teams vacate the fields before play had begun.

Reading Police did not locate anyone suspicious and do not believe there is any danger to the community at this time.

The shelter in place order was lifted at approximately 4:30 p.m.

At 5:20 the town called residents with an automated alert that said police had been looking for a "suspicious male, possibly in possession of a fire arm." The alert went on to say there was no known on-going threat in the area.

A source earlier told Patch that police said they were searching for a man in his 40s who may have been involved in an abduction involving a teenage girl. Police told the source a man may have a gun, a statement verified by the community alert.

Police from Reading, North Reading, Woburn, Wakefield, and Wilmington were on scene. Roads were blocked as helicopters are flying overhead.

Photo by Bob Holmes of police across from high school fields and Burbank Y.