Education

Lexington police investigate non-school related incident in Frederick Douglass parking lot

Students walk through the cafeteria as they return to in-person learning at Frederick Douglass High School in Lexington, Ky, Monday, March 8, 2021. ‘We will learn a lot from today. We’ve got a really good plan and we’ve been very thorough,” Executive Principal Lester Diaz said.
Students walk through the cafeteria as they return to in-person learning at Frederick Douglass High School in Lexington, Ky, Monday, March 8, 2021. ‘We will learn a lot from today. We’ve got a really good plan and we’ve been very thorough,” Executive Principal Lester Diaz said. Lexington Herald-Leader

Frederick Douglass High School was on heightened alert Tuesday afternoon as police investigated a stolen car in the school’s parking lot, authorities said.

Students were escorted to their school buses by police officers after a delayed dismissal due to “police activity” in the parking lot, principal Lester Diaz told families in emails.

Diaz did not describe the police activity but said it was “unrelated to our school,” located at 2000 Winchester Road.

“In line with our normal safety protocols, that means we keep our students and employees safe inside the school building until we receive further instructions from the Lexington Police Department,“ he said.

According to the Lexington Police Department, officers observed a stolen vehicle on Winchester Road Tuesday afternoon.

Two subjects fled the vehicle on the 2000 block of Winchester. Officers were able to apprehend the female passenger, but the male driver has not been identified.

Winchester Road was cleared at approximately 3:25 p.m., police said.

The investigation is still ongoing.

At dismissal Diaz said, “We will dismiss students one hallway at a time. Bus riders will be escorted by police officers to their buses. Car riders and drivers will be escorted by staff to their vehicles.”

Diaz said it was best to provide an extra measure of safety out of an abundance of caution.

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Valarie Honeycutt Spears
Lexington Herald-Leader
Staff writer Valarie Honeycutt Spears covers K-12 education, social issues and other topics. She is a Lexington native with southeastern Kentucky roots.  Support my work with a digital subscription
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Jacob Latimer
Lexington Herald-Leader
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