Huth Road School put into lock down during manhunt

Grand Island Dispatch, March 17, 2006

Huth Road Elementary School was in a lockdown mode for several hours last Friday after several students reported seeing an armed man near a wooded area behind the school. The report set a massive manhunt into motion.

Police agencies from across Western New York turned up nothing after conducting a thorough search of the school and the surrounding area. Erie County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the scene and were joined in the search by the sheriff’s Air-1 helicopter, State Police, State Parks Police, Grand Island Police, Grand Island Fire Police, a State Police K-9 unit, the sheriff’s SWAT Team and investigators from the Sheriff’s Office and State Police.

The comprehensive search of the area included a door-to-door search by more than 50 police officers.

The incident began about 10:55 a.m. when the school resource officer, Trooper Christopher Pyc responded to a report of a suspicious male near a wooded area adjacent to the school, according to a report from the State Police.

Three second-grade students reported that they saw a white male, dressed in black and carrying what they believed to be a handgun in one hand and a mask in the other, according to police reports. The students said that when the man saw them, he ran into the woods, according to the sheriff’s department.

School Superintendent Thomas Ramming directed that Huth Road School remain in lockdown to dismissal time. Ramming’s office said students were dismissed at the regular time; however, dismissal procedures were altered to ensure student safety. Students attending the aftershool YWCA program at Huth were transported to and attended the “Y” program at Sidway Elementary School, instead.

The Sheriff’s Department said officers remained on the scene until all students were safely boarded onto buses. The search concluded at 4 p.m. Friday.

Both the sheriff’s department and the state police said their investigations are continuing.