Pennsylvania

Wissahickon High School dismissed early due to bullet, shell-casing being found

Students at Wissahickon High School in Ambler, Pa., were dismissed early on Sept. 12, after a bullet was found, a law enforcement source says

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Students at a Montgomery County high school were dismissed early after a bullet was found inside of a classroom, school officials said.

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In a statement sent by the Wissahickon School District, Principal Lynne Blair said a bullet was found on school property in a classroom at Wissahickon High School on 521 Houston Road in Ambler, Pennsylvania, on Thursday, Sept. 12.

"Students were kept in their classroom while we spoke to and searched the belongings of every student who was in that classroom today.  We did not find any weapon or any other bullets on any student," the statement sent to parents, students and staff said.

In an unrelated incident, the school said it discovered that another student had a shell-casing in his pocket which prompted a second investigation on the same day that also involved the police.

"We are very confident that the two incidents are not related or connected" the statement from the school district said.

"Out of an abundance of caution, we took immediate steps to ensure the safety of everyone in our building and decided to dismiss our students early so that we could conduct a complete search of our building with the police," Lynne said in the statement.

Students at the high school were dismissed early around 1:15 p.m. Thursday as police investigated the "security situation," a school official said. Staff members at the school stayed for a faculty meeting, according to the official. The official also said that all students and staff are safe.

Parents and guardians arrived to pick up students after receiving messages from the school.

After students were dismissed, all lockers, classrooms, bathrooms, ceilings and trashcans at the school were searched. School officials also said police completed home-visits to multiple families in an effort to collect information "we needed to ensure that our students and staff could feel confident returning to school tomorrow."

Police have not yet revealed if any arrests were made or if they have information on any potential suspects. The source said police questioned some teens at the school as part of their investigation.

Wissahickon High School's principal said there will be extra police personnel on campus on Friday and next week to ease concerns.

The incident occurred days after social media threats led to the closure of several New Jersey schools and the arrests of four juveniles. It also occurred days after four people were killed in a shooting at a high school in Georgia.

This story is developing. Check back for updates.

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