Burke High School was in a lockdown Tuesday afternoon prompted by a stabbing incident.
OPD says the stabbing involved a male and a female student at the JROTC area and that both students were taken in critical condition to Bergan Mercy and a knife was recovered at the scene. Both were in stable condition following immediate surgery.
Police say the male student stabbed the female student and then himself.
The incident happened just after 2:20 p.m. and the school was almost immediately put under lockdown, meaning there is no movement inside the school until officers cleared the area.
OPD says a school resource officer was available to respond immediately to the incident.
After lockdown was lifted, students were dismissed classroom by classroom and were still leaving the building at around 4:30 p.m. Additionally, all activities after school were canceled.
Around dismissal time at Burke High School, KMTV spoke with some parents who said they hadn’t received notification from the school.
OPS did send out a letter in an email saying “staff were made aware that a student was in possession of a weapon inside the school. The school was immediately placed into a lockdown”
Here is the full letter sent to parents:
Dear Burke High School Staff and Families:
We wanted to provide you with an update following today's lockdown incident. On Tuesday afternoon, staff were made aware that a student was in possession of a weapon inside the school. The school was immediately placed into a lockdown for the safety of all students and law enforcement was contacted.
The Omaha Police Department is actively investigating this incident. As this is an active investigation, we cannot share additional details at this time.
Students will be dismissed from school by law enforcement in sections from Burke High School. We appreciate your patience during this process. We are working with our District Safety Office, our on-site security team and the Omaha Police Department to ensure the safety of our school environment.
All after-school activities and practices for tonight have been canceled at Burke High School.
Student and staff safety is our highest priority. In our effort to ensure open communication, we are sharing this information with our parents.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call the school at 402-557-3200.
We appreciate your continued support of Burke High School and Omaha Public Schools.
Sincerely,
Gaye Lannan, Principal
Burke High School
