ELLICOTTVILLE — The Ellicottville and Olean schools went on lockout — no persons allowed in or out of school buildings — on Wednesday following reports of a violent threat on social media.
Olean police reported Wednesday afternoon that a student in another district told the Olean school resource officer “about seeing something on snap chat about school violence in Olean and Ellicottville.”
Both Olean and Ellicottville districts were put on lockout “out of an abundance of caution,” police said. Both districts lifted their lockouts at about 2:30 p.m.
New York State Police and other law enforcement agencies reported there was no credible threat to students and staff following an investigation into the claim, Olean police said.
Ellicottville superintendent Bob Miller said the district also moved into a lockout after being noticed by law enforcement as a precautionary measure in a letter posted for the community.
“Please recall that during a lockout, all exterior doors and windows are locked and outside activities are not allowed. Otherwise, all activities inside the building continue on their normal schedule,” he said. “In addition, during a lockout, entrance to and from the building is drastically restricted and heavily monitored.”
Following lifting the lockouts, Miller thanked everyone for their patience as they worked through the situation with an abundance of caution.
Meanwhile, Dr. Karen Geelan, interim superintendent at Olean, informed parents of the situation, noting that the district was not in a lockdown since there was no imminent threat in the schools.
“All classes and normal operations will continue in the schools, but visitors will not be permitted entrance and all outside doors will be secured,” she said. “Persons will not be permitted to move in and out of the schools freely during the lockout.”
