UPDATE: Apollo High School has been cleared and is secured. Classes will resume Friday. Daviess County Public Schools will hold a media briefing at 11 a.m. today. Check back with Owensboro Times for more details on this morning’s events.
UPDATE: Thursday morning, Apollo High School parents received two “one calls” from AHS Principal Rick Lasley. The first message informed parents that AHS had experienced an overnight burglary which may delay students entering the building and delay the start of school. Minutes later Lasley made a second one call informing parents that the high school would be closed Thursday.
A third call went out to all DCPS parents informing them that AHS was closed due to an overnight burglary.
“For extra precaution, we are going to have to close Apollo High School today,” Lasley said in the second one call. “Our Sheriff’s department needs time to look through camera footage and clear the building.”
Lasley said “an intruder came into the building in early hours of the morning,” and, while there was believed to be no threat to students or staff, the decision was made to close the building for their precaution and safety. Lasley added that this situation was in no way related to the events that occurred at AHS last week, in which a presumed threat spread through social media, but proved to be unfounded.
Major Barry Smith of the Daviess County Sheriff’s Office said a call came in from AHS around 6:30 a.m. this morning.
“When the vice principal showed up to school this morning, he found a male subject in the building that ran out of the school and there also appeared to be forced entry into the school,” Smith said, adding that it initially appeared to be a burglary and it needed to be determined if anything had been taken.
“We are currently reviewing video to see if he carried anything in or out of the school,” Smith said. “A bomb dog has been requested from OPD to just to make sure. But all indications point to a burglary or attempted burglary.”
Because of the time needed to process video and for OPD to do a “full sweep” of the school, Smith said school officials aired on the side of caution by closing school to students.
DEVELOPING: Apollo High School will be closed today, March 28, due to an overnight burglary. Law Enforcement is currently clearing the scene, but said there is no threat to students or staff.
All other DCPS schools are open.
