JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A man who is homeless was arrested after being caught inside of a classroom at Loretto Elementary School Tuesday morning, as "all students and staff are safe," according to Duval County Public Schools (DCPS).
Allen Perry, 47, was arrested for trespassing, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office incident report states.
While an officer was on the way to the school at 7:08 a.m., the report states that another call came in advising the officer that Perry was being "suspicious" and loitering around the school.
When the officer arrived, the report says they exited their vehicle, drew their service weapon, instructed Perry to get on the ground, and then told him to lie on his stomach.
"First the subject laid on his back, I told the subject to turn on his stomach and he complied," the report states. "The subject was taken into custody without further incident."
Ms. Theresa Hudson at the school told police that when she got to the school around 6:55 a.m., she saw Perry standing in front of the school, according to the report. After Hudson asked him if she could help him, she says he "pointed at a back door to one of the classrooms and started mumbling," the report states.
"The witness [Hudson] advised that freaked her out, so she went and got another colleague who was working the extended day," the report mentions. "The witness stated when she and her colleague came back, they saw the subject standing inside the classroom, which was the classroom door the subject pointed at."
JSO says Hudson and her colleague whose name isn't mentioned in the report, yelled at Perry to leave the room as he walked out, but was still on school property. Thereafter, Hudson "immediately did the school alert for the police to respond," the report states.
The following message is what DCPS provided to families of students at Loretto Elementary:
"Hello Loretto Elementary School families, first, I want to assure you that all students and staff are safe. Again, all students and staff are safe. However, we have had a unique start to our day, and I want to make you aware of what happened on campus very early this morning. Shortly after 7 a.m., police were called to the campus as staff members were arriving to open for extended day. Police were called because a person, who appears to be a homeless man, came on to the campus as we were opening the building and was found sitting in a classroom. JSO arrived quickly and took the man into custody. He was never in the presence of students and did not have any weapons or anything of that nature. As you know, whenever we have a disruption like this, I want to make sure you are informed. I am very thankful to law enforcement for their swift action and support, and we are continuing on with our school day as normal. I’m looking forward to a great day of learning here at the school, and I hope you all have a great day as well."
JSO says an additional officer had to go to the school with a fingerprint scanner to have Perry identified after he refused to identify himself.