Sigourney Elementary School went on lockdown Friday afternoon as law enforcement officials dealt with an off-campus incident.
The Keokuk County Sheriff’s Office reports the lockdown was issued while attempting to locate 34-year-old Justin Jordan who was wanted for an alleged burglary and assault in Oskaloosa. Keokuk County deputies located Jordan’s vehicle and confirmed he was inside a home in Sigourney about two blocks west of the elementary school. Jordan was eventually taken into custody and charged with first degree burglary, a class B felony. After being examined by medical staff for a self-inflicted injury, Jordan was transported to the Mahaska County Jail.
Sigourney Superintendent Dave Harper says the school was asked to keep all students and staff in the building for about two hours, “We were called [at] about 3:00 of a situation west of our elementary a couple blocks and law enforcement asked us to lockdown and not release our students at 3:30. Our students were never in danger, they were safe, so we notified our parents and our families through ‘all-call’ and our Facebook page to let them know there’s a situation to our west and we were asked to not release our students. That lasted until about 4:45, closer to 5:00, we finally got the ‘all clear’ from law enforcement that we could release our kids and allow them to go home.”
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office, Iowa State Patrol, Sigourney Police, and Keokuk County Ambulance assisted at the scene.
