Home Invasion Report Prompted Ossining Schools Lockdown

By Krista Madsen

Note: This article has been updated since its 11:27 a.m posting.

Village of Ossining Lt. William Sullivan said at 1:15 p.m. that police have three men in their custody who they are "interviewing" about a home invasion that occurred this morning. 

"We have not charged anyone yet," he said. He said officials have been sifting through conflicting reports that they are "in the middle of investigating" at this point. 

Sullivan did confirm that a break-in occurred this morning on Denny Street at the intersection of Yale Avenue. A woman who was home during the incident called police around 9:15 a.m. 

"There may have been a firearm," Sullivan said. "We are not sure yet what was taken."

Village of Ossining Police sent out an alert to citizens this morning that the schools had been temporarily locked down while officials were "investigat[ing] an incident."

The lockdown, where everyone is secured within their classrooms, was initiated around 10 a.m., said Superintendent Raymond Sanchez. 

Sanchez said the schools quickly moved "lockdown" status to "lockout," meaning the students and teachers could "go about their business" and move freely within the schools but no one could come in or out of the buildings. This was lifted in less than a half an hour, he said. 

Just after 10:30 a.m., the investigation was still underway and "in its preliminary stages," an Ossining police detective told Patch. 

Ossining police said the incident wasn't directly involved with the schools but it was in the "general area" so they secured schools as a "precaution." 

Sanchez said the decision to secure all the schools briefly was a good one as "you just don't know." He said there were "quite a number of variables" he had to deal with during such a situation, communication to parents being top among them as well as the "efforts focused on safety."

As soon as police deemed it safe enough around 10:30 a.m., the schools were back to usual.