Boston school to increase security sweeps after teacher finds a strange man in classroom

BOSTON — A Boston school teacher discovered a strange man in her classroom at the Richard J. Murphy School on Tuesday morning, just moments before students arrived.

Boston police responded to the k-8 school around 8:30 a.m. and according to the police report, the teacher arrived at school at 7:30 a.m. when she noticed her classroom door was shut all the way and found it “odd” because she never leaves it shut.

The teacher said she had assumed her colleague was in the room but when she called out for her, a white male in his late 30′s walked out of her classroom and ran out the rear door of the school. The officer stated he noticed that the same rear door appeared to be slightly open when he responded, but there was no sign of forced entry.

The unknown man, described to have black matted short hair, was wearing a white ripped t-shirt, grey sweatpants and did not have any socks or shoes on. The police report says there was some cereal missing from the classroom fridge but nothing else was taken.

According to a Boston Public Schools spokesperson, their security was breached in a way that allowed this unknown individual to be inside the building.

“Safety and security of our students and staff are of utmost importance,” said BPS in a statement. “Following an investigation into the matter, we will determine what additional safety measures can be taken at the school to ensure that this does not happen again.”

The school principal told police that the night janitors usually lock up around 9:30 p.m. and are supposed to check all rooms prior to locking up.

“It is possible that the rear door was left ajar on accident,” according to the police report.

There is no word on how long the man was in the classroom because the school does not have cameras on site.

This is an active and ongoing investigation

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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