MALONE — The Malone Middle School was evacuated this morning after an incident on Wednesday night.
On Wednesday evening Malone Village Police responded to an incident at the local middle school and as the investigation continued Thursday morning, and in an abundance of caution, it was determined that the middle school should be evacuated, according to a press release issued by the Franklin County’s district attorney.
The middle school has been cleared, according to the District Attorney Elizabeth M. Crawford, and there is a person of interest being interviewed.
According to Crawford, Malone Village Police, state police, Homeland Security Investigations, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and Border Patrol, assisted on Thursday, in addition to the FBI-Joint Terrorism Task Force and the North Country Crime Analysis Center.
“I am thankful to have the law enforcement resources we have in our county,” Crawford said in the release, “It is a proud moment to watch them all work together for the greater good, our communities and especially our children.”
According to Malone Village Police Chief William T. Andre, an initial incident at the school was brought to the department’s attention around 8 p.m. on Wednesday.
“We took some investigative steps at that time and we determined that everything was safe for the children to go to school,” Andre said.
Andre said on Thursday morning, as a precaution, the department determined to evacuate the students and close nearby roads while a further investigation was conducted.
“After a further investigation we found some stuff out that made us think that it would be in our best interest and for the sake of the community, for their safety for the school to be evacuated for the time being,” he said, “After going through things we determined that everything was safe again and the road didn’t need to be closed anymore.”
According to Andre, the area around the middle school, from Jane Street to Francis Street was barricaded.
“Just so that students when they were coming out of the building, it was making it easier for them,” he said.
Investigation into the incident is ongoing and additional information will be released at a future time, according to a post on Malone Village Police’s Facebook page, Thursday afternoon, which states at this time, it has been determined that there is no danger at the Malone Middle School.