MONROVIA, Md. — We are learning more about how a Frederick County elementary teacher and 27 of her students ended up at a local cafe, before their school went on lockdown.
On Friday, the Sheriff's Office released a timeline of events.
It all started around 12:24pm Thursday, when deputies received an emergency call from the Buzz Cafe on Fingerboard Road in Monrovia.
A fifth-grade teacher at nearby Green Valley Elementary walked into the location with her class, and requested that staff there dial 911 to report a mass stabbing at the school.
This caused the school to immediately go into lockdown mode.
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Investigators quickly determined that no such incident had occurred, but soon noticed the teacher and students were missing from the school.
It wasn't until then, that detectives realized they were at the cafe where the 911 call came from.
About an hour later, all were safely bused back to the school. Within two hours, the lockdown was lifted allowing students to be dismissed on time.
During an interview with deputies, the teacher claimed she initially asked school administrators for permission to take the students outside for class.
She apparently never got a response, and felt the school was eerily quiet, so decided to march her students nearly one mile up the road to the cafe.
The Sheriff's Office says the teacher claimed to be following "avoid, deny, and defend tactics," which is cited in part of the school's "emergency management procedures."
During their journey to the cafe, the teacher reportedly directed her students to remove any brightly colored clothing or accessories they were wearing, to avoid detection.
It remains unclear however as to why the teacher falsely reported multiple stabbings.
Deputies ultimately took the teacher to the hospital for an evaluation, but would not comment on her current status.
No decision has been made yet on whether criminal charges will be filed against the teacher.
The school issued this statement to parents and staff members on Friday.
Yesterday afternoon a school employee took a class of fifth grade students off site as she used the “avoid” strategy in our Avoid, Deny, Defend (ADD) security drill. This staff member believed there was a concern for safety that caused her to act. The avoid strategy is one we train staff and students to use when they believe there is an immediate threat to student safety. We are grateful that this was a non-credible threat, but we know that the experience was upsetting for the students involved and our community at large. We regret that this happened.
FCPS is continuing to investigate to more fully understand what precipitated the teacher’s actions and to fully understand the sequence of events. This will allow us to determine any additional action steps that should be taken. FCPS does not share specific information regarding personnel issues.
