WPD Locked Down Schools Monday While Searching for Suspect with DEA

Woonsocket Police locked down schools in the Elm Street area yesterday afternoon as they and the DEA searched for a man they believed might be armed.

Woonsocket Police Det. Jamie Paone said Woonsocket High School, Woonsocket Middle School, Pothier Elementary and Citizens Memorial School were locked down for about 30 minutes Monday at about 1:27 p.m. as local officers cooperated with DEA agents to locate a man wanted by the agency as part of an ongoing investigation.

Paone said the call came as some schools were about to dismiss students for the day. The lock down was issued to protect students from the suspect, who may have been armed, and to prevent dismissal from making the search more complicated, she said.

The man was apprehended without incident, and schools dismissed students on time, Paone said. She declined to provide further details on the investigation, forwarding further inquiries to the DEA. 

A call to the DEA's New England office was not immediately returned.