Unconfirmed Sighting of Escaped Prisoner Leads to Marlboro School Lockdown

Marlboro Township, NJ - Marlboro High School was put into "shelter in place" lockdown mode Friday morning after a reported sighting of South Jersey escaped convict Arthur Buckel.

A high school student told the Marlboro police officer assigned to the school that he thought he saw the prisoner at 8:30 a.m. Friday at the Wawa on Rt. 79 near the school, Captain Fred Reck told Patch. The student told the officer this at 10:30 a.m.

The school went into "shelter in place" lockdown mode, meaning no students could go outside, Reck said, while officers searched the area near the Wawa and reviewed surveillance video.

Then the student said he was mistaken, and actually saw a man who looked like the suspect near the QuickChek, a few miles from the school, police said. A search was done and surveillance video from that store was also pulled, but police could not find anybody who resembled Buckel.

"Right now we're treating it as a possible unconfirmed sighting," Reck said. "We have not gotten any other calls about this."

At no time was there a threat to students, the school district said in the alert, sent to all high school parents. "Shelter in place" means students are free to go to the next class, go to lunch, etc., Reck said — they just cannot go outside. A full lockdown is when students cannot leave their classroom.

Barneget, Waretown schools on lockdown Wednesday

On Wednesday, schools in Barnegat, Waretown and Long Beach Island were placed on lockdown after the convict's car was spotted in Barnegat. He reportedly stole a vehicle in Atlantic County, which was found at the CVS on West Bay Avenue Wednesday morning.

Barnegat residents were told to lock their doors. Police K9s searched, but there was no sign of Buckel to be found.

Arthur William Buckel has been on the run since he escaped from Bayside State Prison on Tuesday morning. Buckel, 38, who had been in prison after sentencing on a burglary conviction, is the same man convicted of slapping a 10-month-old Barnegat girl to death on Labor Day weekend in 1995.