Police respond to incident involving multiple residents at Pierceton Woods Academy – InkFreeNews.com

Press release

PIERCETON – Local law enforcement responded to an incident involving residents of Pierceton Woods Academy Wednesday evening.

On Wednesday, September 18, at 9:07 p.m., Pierceton Police and the Kosciusko County Sheriff's Office were dispatched to Pierceton Woods Academy regarding a resident disturbance. Pierceton Woods staff reported that they did not have enough personnel to control the situation and requested police assistance. They reported that a fire alarm had been set off and that several residents may have left the Pierceton Woods campus.

The City of Pierceton has issued a community-wide alert to alert citizens of a situation at Pierceton Woods Academy and urge them to report any suspicious activity to authorities.

When the first officers arrived on the scene, all residents were outside. Many were fighting with each other and others were running around unsupervised. Through the joint efforts of several police agencies, the situation was quickly brought under control. The injured were given medical treatment and some residents were transported by land to local hospitals.

After the situation was brought under control, staff were finally able to inform officials that all residents had been accounted for and most were back in their assigned units.

Pierceton Police were assisted by KCSO, Warsaw Police, Winona Lake Police, North Webster Police, Lutheran EMS, Pierceton Fire Department and Tippecanoe Township Fire and EMS.

In a press release, Pierceton Woods Academy officials said three residents were treated for minor injuries and all others returned to campus within three hours of the incident.

“The safety of our residents, staff and community is a top priority at Pierceton Woods Academy,” said Curtis Smith, marketing and communications director for Lasting Change, PWA's parent organization. “In response to the September 18 incident on our campus, Pierceton Woods Academy staff called local authorities and we are grateful for their quick response and helpfulness in ensuring the situation remained under control. During this incident, no youth attempted to leave the PWA campus and there was no threat to our community.”