School district just sent out a message - it was a student with an umbrella. All is fine.

Why was someone taken into custody over a misunderstanding?

At this point u have to be on guard for anything that might happen. After what happen Friday in newtown ct. In my heart they did the right thing in putting the school under lock down.I just want everyone to pray for the families in newtown we are in a lot of pain during this time for the hollidays. BE THANKFUL FOR EVERY MINUTE U HAVE WITH UR CHILDREN BECAUSE U REALLY NEVER KNOW WHEN IT WILL BE UR LAST.... MAY GOD BLESS EVERYONE.

WE NEED UMBRELLA CONTROL LEGISLATION!!!!!

They did the right thing by scaring the hell out of the kids over an umbrella????

Make sure you have an actual situation BEFORE causing mass hysteria. Substantiate your story before you bring in the SWAT team!!!!

"part of a school project to simulate the human immune system protecting the body."

^^What the heck does that mean? School projects involving umbrellas? The story sounds fishy to me...

I walked right in during the Lockdown..I was dropping off my 9th grader...I was rushed off to an office..told what was happening..I asked "How in the world were we able to walk right into the school?" There were police cars but they were empty..I think they rushed so fast into the school..they forgot to cover the FRONT DOOR!! I WILL make sure this issue and another I over heard a SWAT member say, is TAKEN CARE OF...ASAP!!!!! I was shaking and didn't feel that this was the time to point out..BUT..I will b4 next school day...OUR KIDS MUST BE SAFE>>AT ALL COST!!!!!

Dana, I hope you let them know, they need to know where the security leaks are in the event of an actual crisis.

The entire Upper Dublin School District, its superintendent, high school administration, and Upper Dublin Police force has become a laughingstock nationally! I just read through some of the California newspapers online and television websites. They are ridiculing all of the above mentioned for the buffoons that they are over this one. There are some people that should be seriously fired over this foul-up!

I am not sure I agree Adam, the students were seen on surveillance, dressed in camo with what appeared to be a gun and making shooting actions. Perhaps it was not the best assignment on this particular day. (They were AP bio students demonstrating how killer t cells work in the body.) But my son was there and I am glad the school and police responded the way they did to address what they believed was happening. That is far better than not to respond until you see dead kids. Being safe is so much better than being sorry. You would be attacking them for their inaction in that case.

Some people actually took their kids home after this? Really?

Upper Dublin wasn't being safe, they were being irresponsible. People in positions of authority are supposed demonstrate and inspire self-control, not uncontrolled panic.

Reading the comments here, and those I see on Facebook and other sites, I am disheartened to see how frightened, fearful and cowardly Americans have become. However, it does fully explain why we are raising a generation of sociopaths who would slaughter innocent children while living out some final fantasy.
A maniac murders innocent people, and we recoil in fear. We ask the police to protect us. We ask the government to protect us. Few say that our society is creating these monsters, through violent images distributed via entertainment outlets. Few say our loss of personal responsibility at the hands of an ever expanding government is a breeding ground for self gratification and self indulgence. Few say the removal of any sense of spirituality from our society through the courts, the government and the media, leaves us empty shells with no morality and no guilt for our actions. Few say we medicate our youth, because it is easier to drug them, rather than nurture them.
Instead, we run in fear. We devour the images of despair and horror the media feeds us 24 hours a day, and we ask the government to legislate human decency. And more carnage will come to us, because we have forsaken our obligation to life and liberty.
Keeping our children safe is our responsibility, and it is accomplished by raising well adjusted members of society. The government and the media have been raising our children, and you see where it has led us.

I am an Upper Dublin High School student who was in the AP Biology class when this occurred. The project that we were doing was meant to be a creative method of learning about the human immune system, and the group that included the suspects was using a military analogy to explain the process. I know all four of the boys personally - they're all good kids - and although what happened was unfortunate, I can say with certainty that none of them did anything wrong, nor did the school, the teacher, or the police. The boy with the umbrella is a friend of mine, and he is definitely not the type of person who would ever harm or scare anyone intentionally. We were all shaken up, but more than anything, this was an indication of how safe we are at UDHS, as shown by the immediate and effective response. I just want to let everyone know that as an eyewitness, I believe that no one was at fault here, and I'm very glad that everyone was safe.

Error on the side of cautious is now being ridiculed? And this was an example of the government raising our children? Now who is paranoid? The school district or those who post such ridiculous words?

We should applaud those who took the situation seriously and thank first responders. Better to be safe than sorry and kids are safe. Let those who are ignorant laugh at overreaction.

Some people are misunderstanding my stance that this was an over-reaction...

I do not blame the students (although poor timing, I doubt they expected this)
I do not think the police did anything wrong. And I think it is great the school was able to react quickly... AND I am certainly glad nothing bad happened. Especially as a parent of a kid who was in the school at the time!

BUT... I am angry at the person who watched the surveillance video and sounded the alarm before verifying it was an actual situation. It would have taken a few seconds to call down to someone in the area and ask them what was actually going on. I know, I know, someone will start saying that someone could have been killed in those few seconds... BUT after everything that happened Friday was it REALLY necessary to put the kids through this??? A few seconds to verify would have prevented the ENTIRE situation. Everybody is "on edge" and this kind of stuff just makes it worse!

Stop arguing. Please. Everyone is okay and we are glad for that. But people also need to CALM down. STOP debating. GO ON with your lives. STOP sensationalizing this (terrible) event.

I was taking my 2 sons, who both go to SRMS, to an orthodontist appt. yesterday. I happened to be going by UDHS, when all of the cop cars, from Upper Dublin Twp., Springfield Twp., Abington Twp., Whitemarsh Twp., Cheltenham Twp, including Cheltenham SWAT team, and undercover cars, were heading to UDHS. I felt that in light of what happened on Friday, the response was completely appropriate. And I can say, that after the orthodontist appt., I felt that my kids would be safe going back to school in UD. Knowing the swift response from all Twps, we are in good hands. We need to stick together in a time like this, and I think what happened Friday, has taken us all back to square 1, as far as fear and school security goes. Sure there's going to be some bumps in the road along the way. I'm sure the kids yesterday were scared, and after Friday, they should be. Think of it as sort of a drill for the real thing, (God Forbid!). I could care less, that another state thinks anything about this, makes us a laughing stock, or thinks anything about this is remotely funny. I would like to see how their state would react in the same situation? Better safe than sorry is how I figure it. I'm glad my kids aren't in California! Good job Upper Dublin and all the other townships who showed up so swiftly, to take care of OUR KIDS!! Thank you!

Mark, you are so right about erring on the side of caution. And thanks, UDHSStudent, for explaining the project. I'm just wondering whether teachers or other adults knew what the AP students had in mind, because if they did, they probably should have thought better about a simulated attack using a pretend rifle in a school so soon after Sandy Hook, when everybody's nerves are still on edge.

John I do agree with you. This does sound like it was security's problem of being paranoid. Someone doesn't walk into a high rise and scream fire without checking it out first. It would cause a massive exodus and people would be trampled and killed as they were leaving. Same scenerio here, somehow the word got out about this happening and parents showed up at school prior to the facts being presented first. People have heart problems other medical issues that shouldn't add the stress and anxiousness that other problems may prevail. It was handled in poor taste.
I know all about prevention is the best medicine but this is ridiculous. UD needs to review their security protocol.

As one of the students, I'd be grateful if no one formed any conclusions without the full picture. Udsd followed protocol correctly and I applaud them. Understandably anxiety must have been high over the past few days which is why they acted in the manner they did. They have 1400 students to protect, put yourself in their shoes. As for the students, an announcement was made that declared that we were doing what we were supposed to be doing, where we were supposed to be doing and that this was just a misunderstanding. There's no reason to file such ridiculous claims.

To all the idiots saying this was a good thing - its retarded and it's the sort of hyper-vigilant police overstepping that has killed far more kids then the shooter at Newton - the thousands of kids shot over the years because they had a "gun" that turned out to be a toy or a cell phone after the cop who did it looked over the body. If you really want to live in a nation where you can be arrested for carrying an umbrella, move to China ... Stop encouraging this fascist bullshit in our own nation and claiming its to protect kids - it does the exact opposite.