CLARKSTON, Mich. – An Oakland County school district has lifted its shelter-in-place after federal agents were pursuing alleged gang members on Wednesday morning, according to the sheriff’s office.
Early on Nov. 19, Clarkston Community Schools sent out an email to parents saying that ICE officers were searching for two people near Sashabaw and Clarkston roads.
The operation drew a significant presence of Oakland County Sheriff’s cars and unmarked vehicles to the scene.
A shelter-in-place was initiated out of an abundance of caution. The school district received an “all-clear” at around 11 a.m. and lifted the shelter-in-place order.
The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office said that the suspects being sought were “reported gang members” who were on the run near an elementary school in Independence Township.
Authorities say the suspects haven’t been located. Officers said they were going to stay at the elementary school “until all students have safely gone home.”
Here’s the full statement from the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office:
“We were notified by federal agents that they were pursuing suspects – reported gang members– who had fled on foot near an elementary school in Independence Township. Out of an abundance of caution, the school initiated a shelter-in-place. We immediately deployed resources to protect the students, staff and surrounding community, and to assist in the search for the suspects.
At this time, the suspects have not been located. The only remaining law enforcement presence in the area is at the elementary school where officers will remain until all students have safely gone home.”
Oakland County Public Information Officer Stephen W. Huber
Jad Salamey, an immigration and civil rights attorney with CAIR Michigan, said the presence of ICE agents in Metro Detroit has become a troubling, recurring reality, causing distress among law-abiding residents.
“It’s just evoking panic and anxiety to communities, to children, to law-abiding people and it is simply not okay,” Salamey said.
He added that this daily reality is tearing at the social fabric of what many consider American values.
“In the first seven months of this year, there have been about 15 hundred arrests in the Metro Detroit area, and over 60% of those arrests are of people with no criminal history,” Salamey said.
However, these statistics have not been independently verified.