FORT MYERS, Fla. -- A man is in custody after he jumped the fence at Tice Elementary, prompting a full lockdown at the school.
The incident happened Tuesday, as students were outside for P.E. The school sent a letter to parents saying the school was on lockdown for 13 minutes. The P.E teacher saw Ousmane Neal jump the fence before he rushed his students inside and locked doors, and notified the school resource office officer.
The resource officer removed Neal from campus, and deputies arrested him. Deputies say Neal was shirtless, acting very tense and delusional.
Lee County School District spokesperson Rob Spicker said response took only seconds. "They're the first line of defense no matter what the threat is. This P.E. teacher took his job very seriously, witnesses something that was wrong and out of place, and protected those students and kept them safe," he said.
He adds in light of recent school shootings nationally, more security changes are coming to Lee County Schools. "We're narrowing all our schools down to a single point of entry, we're adding the door locks so teachers can lock their doors from inside, changing procedures so there's more safety once students are already on campus," said Spicker.
Those security changes will be implemented as soon as this summer.
Parent Yesenia Tovar said the situation was handled well, but there is room for improvement, starting with the fence Neal was able to jump. "They need to make the fence higher, to the limit no one can jump it," she said.
