Allentown, PA School Evacuation Is False Alarm

The evacuation of a high school in Allentown, Pennsylvania over the report of a suspicious person in the
building turned out to be a false alarm.

A teacher called in a report after witnessing a student, sweating heavily dressed in a military flack jacket approach the Parkland High School flag pole, say a prayer and then run away around 5PM on Friday afternoon according to WFMZ TV.

South Whitehall Police Chief Thomas Toth says police were able to contact the student via cell phone. He was simply working out and had already left the school property.

Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin told the Morning Call, "As it turned out, there was no one in the school building," he said. "We have a high degree of certainty — essentially a complete degree — that what happened here was an individual that was exercising."

The Morning Call reports he was wearing water bottles filled with sand that could give the impression of a being a weapon.

Dozens of area police and emergency services squads responded to the school, which went on lockdown as activities were cancelled and the building evacuated.