On Friday, November 15, Lincoln Middle School practiced a shelter-in-place protocol when an adult intruder was found on campus. According to a statement provided to the Alameda Post from the City of Alameda on behalf of the Alameda Police Department, when the individual was escorted off the property, a school administrator noticed that the individual was in possession of a knife.

When the intruder was no longer on campus, the following statement was posted on the Lincoln Middle School PTA Facebook page by Susan E. Davis, who manages community affairs for Alameda Unified School District:
“Hello families, we have sent a text to all of you, but also letting you know here that there was an intruder on campus, and the school went into a shelter in place. The intruder is gone, APD is on campus, and all students and staff are safe. But we are asking that you refrain from coming to school until the shelter in place has been lifted. We will have more information shortly.”
The incident prompted additional schools in the area to be placed on a shelter-in-place protocol out of an abundance of caution, according to the City. “Because AUSD staff worked swiftly to ensure student/staff safety and provide timely information to APD, officers were able to locate and take this individual into custody without incident,” reads the statement.
At 3:19 p.m., Davis provided an update to Lincoln Middle School families: “APD has determined it is safe to release students. This will be done building by building so this may take a few minutes, but your students will be out shortly. We’ll have more information about this incident later this afternoon.”
APD later learned the Lincoln Middle School intruder also went to the Saint Joseph Notre Dame High School campus earlier that same day.
“While the individual is currently in custody, APD has advised Alameda schools to request stay away orders for when he is released, and if this person is seen on any school campus, schools should immediately activate their campus’ safety protocols and contact the Alameda Police Department,” the City’s statement noted. “The safety of our schools, students, and staff is a top priority for the Alameda Police Department, and we greatly appreciate this cooperation and collaboration.”
Later that evening, Superintendent Pasquale Scuderi posted the following letter to the AUSD website:
Dear AUSD Staff and Families,
This afternoon an intruder went on to the Lincoln Middle School campus. The school was immediately put into a shelter in place, and office staff called the Alameda Police Department. A campus supervisor confronted the man, noticed he had a knife, and managed to get him to leave. We are still very much investigating and reviewing all aspects of the incident.
All students were safe throughout this incident and we are grateful, as always, for staff and APD’s partnership and rapid response.
About an hour later, Maya Lin school received a call from APD alerting them to the possibility that the individual might be headed in the general direction of campus. In response, Maya Lin’s principal put the after-school programs into a shelter in place protocol.
Out of an abundance of caution, district staff then, based on the most current information, put the after-school programs at Love Elementary School, Ruby Bridges, Paden Elementary School, and Encinal Jr. & Sr. High School into a shelter in place protocol as well, with directions to keep students inside until their afterschool programs were done for the day. Notifications were sent to parents whose children are in afterschool programs.
As of 5:30 this evening, we have been notified that APD has arrested the individual who was on campus at Lincoln.
Such incidents can be scary and traumatic for staff, students, and family members alike, and I want to assure you that we drill for them regularly and review our security measures and protocols continually. Students and staff are trained in how to respond to shelter-in-place and lockdown notifications, and I am constantly impressed with how quickly and skillfully our community follows the protocols they have been taught. We are deeply appreciative of our staff’s broader response in service of their students and colleagues.
As always, we will comprehensively debrief and review each aspect of these incidents with school and district staff as student and staff safety will always be our top priority.
Many of our kids understandably experienced this afternoon as a very frightening and upsetting turn of events. Please give them a little extra love and support this weekend and we will be prepared to do the same when school resumes on Monday.
Kelsey Goeres is the Managing Editor of the Alameda Post. Contact her via [email protected]. Her writing is collected at AlamedaPost.com/Kelsey-Goeres.