Sykesville Middle School locked exterior doors and kept students inside for about 90 minutes Monday after police said a patient walked away from Springfield Hospital less than two miles away.
Sykesville police patrolled the school grounds until the lockdown ended about 9:15 a.m., when the patient turned himself in to the psychiatric hospital.
Teachers told students of the patient?s escape, but classes continued, said Don Pyles, Carroll?s director of middle schools.
“Whenever you have this type of thing, you always want to tell them if you see anybody odd,” Pyles said.
Police at Springfield declined comment.
Since January, 87 psychiatric patients have walked out of five state-run institutions, including Springfield, in what are called “elopements,” when patients leave psychiatric hospitals without permission, state officials said.
Frank Mahlman walked away from Spring Grove mental institution on Oct. 22 and was loose for about three weeks until Baltimore City police caught him last weekend.
Often, patients are not dangerous, but some could be, state officials said. For instance, Mahlman has a criminal history, including assault charges.
In Carroll, all 43 schools were locked down about a month ago after an anonymous 911 caller threatened to “shoot up” Century High School in Eldersburg.
After that incident, some parents complained they were not informed quickly and clearly enough about which school was threatened. Schools officials said that with the first all-county lockdown, mass e-mails jammed their system. Some parents did not receive alerts until after the school day ended.
E-mails alerting parents of Sykesville Middle students were sent out about 30 minutes after the lockdown ended Monday.
The school system hopes to have a text-message alert system runningin about a month so parents can be immediately told about school lockdowns, inclement weather and early closings, Assistant Superintendent Steve Guthrie said.
