HISD Police Lieutenant Paul Smithers said an unknown intruder entered the school cafeteria as school was beginning. Lt. Smithers said a parent volunteer stopped the man and asked why he was on the campus. The man became belligerent and refused to leave. About 15 children were eating in the cafeteria when the man entered at 8:12am.
Moments later HISD Police arrived and apprehended the man and removed him from campus. The suspect is being evaluated by medical experts and has not yet been charged with a crime.
Burrus Principal Jessie Woods alerted parents about the intruder, using HISD's automatic phone message system.
"An unknown male entered the building by the cafeteria side immediately he was confronted by our parent volunteer and asked him to follow our HISD proper guidelines for visiting the campus. At that time the unknown male became disoriented and belligerent therefore the campus went on lock down and the office called the HISD Police and they responded," Woods said in the phone call.
HISD Police Chief Charles Wiley praised the work of the parent, school officials and HISD Police officers.
"Our first job every day is to keep children safe. Working with our parents, our school staff and our community we will keep doing that every day," Chief Wiley said.
