Update: East Meadow Schools Placed on Lockout Friday

Five East Meadow schools were placed on lockout Friday after Nassau County police received a 911 call for a suspicious person in the vicinity of the RXR (formerly EAB) Plaza, Patch confirmed.

The lockout was officially lifted at 2:15 p.m., according to an alert now posted on the East Meadow School District website.

According to police, the 911 caller stated a man was in the area with a gun. "Right now it's just a 911 call," an officer told Patch Friday afternoon. "We haven't found anybody."

Some parents said they learned of the lockout from Facebook chatter and via text messages from their kids inside the high school. Many were angered and confused by the delayed notification.

One parent said she received the automated call from the district around 3 p.m., 45 minutes after the lockout was lifted.

"I got a call about an hour after my daughter texted me from the hs. Great system!" another parent wrote on the East Meadow Patch Facebook page.

Another parent added, "Great Job, EM for alerting me of a possible 'dangerous' situation, an HOUR after the fact!!!"

East Meadow Patch called East Meadow High School's main office at 1:49 p.m. and was rerouted to the superintendent's office, where a message was left with the superintendent's secretary. Calls were not returned. Patch also reached out to the district's public relations company, Syntax, but has not yet received any further information.

The district website alert states the district was contacted by Nassau County's First Precinct and, "as a precautionary measure," were asked to place schools in the southern end of the district on lockout because of police activity in the RXR (formerly EAB) Plaza in Uniondale.

The lockout, which is put in place because of an outside threat, affected East Meadow High School, Woodland Middle School, McVey Elementary School, Barnum Woods Elementary School and Parkway Elementary School.

All dismissals, except for East Meadow High School, which was delayed, were conducted as usual.

"All is fine," the alert stated.