Police fatally shot a man acting in an aggressive manner who was loitering outside an Alabama elementary school on Thursday morning.
The suspect was initially reported to authorities by a neighbor living near Walnut Elementary School in Birmingham who called police about “a suspicious man outside the school,” according to AL.com.
The man was seen “aggressively” trying to break into parked cars and attempting to open multiple locked doors.
As the suspect tried to force his way inside the school, 34 children in the building attending a summer literacy camp were placed into lockdown, Gadsden City School Superintendent Tony Reddick stated.
The man was confronted by a school resource officer who talked with him and called for backup. A second officer arrived and an altercation took place with the suspect, leading to his fatal shooting.
Authorities have not revealed if the suspect was armed.
The children were taken to a nearby high school, where parents were able to pick them up.
A message released on social media from the Gadsden/Etowah County Emergency Management Agency referred to an “ongoing” police investigation.
The incident came with the country still on high alert only three weeks after the deadly shooting at an elementary school in Ulvade, Texas in which 19 children and two adults were killed.