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.  

Pasquale Scuderi
Superintendent
Alameda Unified School District