Police searching for Fort Myers High School intruder

Reporter: Emma Heaton Writer: Paul Dolan
Published: Updated:
Fort Myers High School. CREDIT: WINK News

Officers are still searching for the person who walked inside Fort Myers High School through an unlocked door.

Police said that person took a small amount of money and food, so the department believes they were looking for shelter. But the evidence they left behind caused a scare sending the school into lockdown on Thursday.

Friday was quiet at Fort Myers High School, but Stephen Brooks is a father to a student at the school, and he wants answers. Starting with how could someone get inside the school, stick around for six hours, and nobody knows about it?

“It’s just an egregious security breach. And I were having a hard time understanding how something like this could have happened. And they’re not really telling us how or why it happened,” Brooks said.

FMPD said a man got inside the science wing through an unlocked door at 11:46 p.m. on Wednesday. The principal sent an email to parents Thursday afternoon saying they repeatedly tested the door, and it locks every time. So, we are confident the door is in good working order.

The principal admitted the alarm was not activated.

For Brooks, it’s scary, especially considering the killer in Uvalde got in through an unlocked door.

“No, I don’t accept that this is just a random coincidence because of what this could have turned into and the frequency with which we see it happening,” Brooks said. “How long was the alarm not working for? Why did they not have additional measures in place knowing the alarm was not functioning?”

Ken Trump is president of the National School Safety and Security Services. He told WINK News it’s a mistake for schools to say little when parents want transparency and accountability.

“Drop the ball on the communications, and it increases anxiety, leaves more questions in the ambiguity for parents, and causes more problems than the actual incident itself,” Trump said.

Remember, in 2020, a patient from Lee Memorial ran past a security guard and got into the building.

FMPD has a picture of the suspect from a school surveillance video, but haven’t found him.

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