‘Out of control student’ prompted Newton High School lock-in, superintendent says

Newton High School had a lock-in Wednesday afternoon after an “altercation between students,” a Newton school district official said.

One of the students has been detained, a Harvey County emergency dispatcher said. No injuries had been reported by 3 p.m. on Wednesday.

Deb Hamm, the superintendent of Newton’s school district, said a student was “out of control,” which prompted teachers to lock classroom doors and students to seek shelter in classrooms.

Despite the lock-in, Hamm said it was not a dangerous situation. She said there were no weapons involved in the incident.

Hamm said the situation ended after around 10 minutes. Newton High students were then released early, as scheduled, because Wednesday was an early release day.

Hamm said she was still waiting for all of the details of the situation before providing more information or pursuing disciplinary action. She did not say what the student did to prompt the lock-in.

This story was originally published September 26, 2018 at 2:54 PM.