Explosives detection dogs search students and bags as police investigate threat at Chester Academy

Twelve-year-old Lauren Abrams described what it was like when all students at Chester Academy High School and Middle School were asked to stay in place shortly before classes began.

Some students came to school by bus.

Others were already inside.

“So we stayed on the bus for almost two hours,” Lauren said. “Then a police officer said they were going to ask us to get off the bus and line up against the wall.”

An official source told News 12 Thursday morning that a parent called police and said his child called him from a school bus to tell him that another student might be bringing a gun to school.

Students and parents told News 12 that explosives-sniffing dogs searched all of their bags and that police then patted them down.

Chester police said Thursday afternoon that they and other authorities searched the entire school and found no weapons, allowing classes to resume around 10 a.m.

Chester police have not released any information on whether any students have been expelled from campus.

“It's unfortunate that the kids who did nothing have to go through this,” said father Michael Branbury, exchanging text messages with his son inside. “My son is scared to death. Apparently he's in a classroom with only one teacher because he went in when they started putting all the kids back on the bus. He said he didn't feel safe.”

Several parents expressed concern about the searches of students and the school administration's communication with their families during the curfew, adding that they plan to share their concerns at next week's school board meeting.

The Chester Union Free School District said in a statement that some police officers remained at the school long after the curfew was lifted out of caution.

The unnamed author of the statement also reminded all students that “counseling and support services” are available to all students.

Chester police did not respond to calls seeking comment Thursday, beyond a statement the police department sent at noon.

Several parents decided to withdraw their children from school for a day, so many that immediately after the curfew was lifted, a traffic jam of parents formed in their cars.