Police put two Camden County elementary schools on lockdown Wednesday morning due to a manhunt nearby.
Police told NBC10 that the manhunt stemmed from a reported armed robbery attempt at the nearby Mansion Apartments complex.
Police told us they were looking for two men who they think may be armed, one with a semi-automatic weapon. The other may be wearing a mask. The men were seen running into the woods in Pine Hill, N.J. That's where police teams set up a staging area.
The two schools about a mile apart -- Albert Bean Elementary school on E. 3rd Street in Pine Hill and Clementon Elementary on Audubon Avenue in Clementon -- were put on low-level lockdown around 9:30 a.m. while police searched the wooded area nearby.
The manhunt ended without any suspects being found and the lockdown was lifted around 11:45 a.m.
Here's the notification sent out and posted earlier on the Clementon School District's website:
Dear Parents,
At this time we are using our school messenger system to notify you that we are currently in our Tier 1 lockdown. This morning we were advised by the Clementon Police department that an incident that was occurring outside of the school and advised us to go into our tier 1 lockdown procedures.
Everything is functioning as usual within the building and everyone is safe. Nobody is permitted in or out of the building.
We are only in a lockdown due to an incident that is occurring in the town and off of school grounds.
Please do not come to the school. We will keep you notified when this incident has ended.
Lynn Marcus
Superintendent/Principal
Local
Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood.
Police kept investigating the reported robbery attempt into the afternoon.
