Students at Engadine Consolidated Schools were kept in their classrooms with doors and windows locked and lights off at noon Thursday, September 24, owing to a lockdown initiated by the school after violent threats were made against an Engadine resident who lives nearby.

State troopers from the Newberry Michigan State Police post were assisting the Luce County Sheriff's office with an investigation into complaints of home invasion and malicious destruction of property when the threats were made. The school was locked down because of the close proximity of the threatened man's residence to the school. No threats were made against the school.

After 30 minutes, Engadine Superintendent Angie McArthur said teachers were able to continue their classroom activities, although doors were kept shut and locked and students were not allowed in the halls. Elementary students took their recess in the school's small gymnasium instead of the playground.

Police agencies encouraged the school to go into a lockdown and kept school administration apprised of the situation, Mrs. McArthur said.

"We just kind of rolled with it and followed our plan and it worked," she said. "It was excellent practice. That makes me feel good that we are preparing our students in the case of an emergency."

After investigating the case, the Luce County Sheriff's office arrested Patrick Wayne Bridge, 42, on an outstanding warrant and an additional charge of home invasion in the first degree. This arrest ended the threat to the area surrounding the school, State Police reported, and the lockdown ended at the school's dismissal time.

"The school was never in any danger," said Trooper Brent Wilson from the Newberry post. "It actually went very well."

The school is required to have two lockdown drills each year, Mrs. McArthur said, along with evacuation and fire drills. The school has not yet had a drill this year, and Mrs. McArthur, who started work as the district's superintendent in July, said she couldn't recall any previous situation when an actual lockdown had been initiated at the school.

"The safety of our students is our top priority," Mrs. McArthur said. "It was a happy ending."

Agencies assisting the troopers and sheriff's deputies were the St. Ignace Michigan State Police post, Mackinac County Sheriff's office and Emergency Management Division, Michigan Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement, and the U.S. Forest Service.