Garden Park Elementary lockdown lifted
The lockdown at Garden Park Elementary is over and several men have been arrested.
The lockdown came after Border Patrol agents conducting regular surveillance spotted a group of men heading away from the river carrying what appeared to be backpacks or bundles, Border Patrol spokeswoman Rosalinda Huey said.
The agents called Brownsville police and BISD after they found tracks leading towards the school.
Agents say they arrested four men and seized six bundles of narcotics that weighed 300 pounds. Officials said another four to six men got away and swam back into Mexico.
At approximately 1:15 p.m., school officials were notified about activity near the school, said BISD spokeswoman Drue Brown.
Brown says for the safety of the students, the school was locked down – meaning no one was allowed to come or go from the building – and the BISD police were sent to secure the campus.
According to police spokesman Eddie Garcia, Brownsville police were called in to assist.
Details of the Border Patrol operation were not yet available.
Back in April, Garden Park also was placed under lockdown while Border Patrol agents and Brownsville police searched for a man believed to be an undocumented immigrant.
The school sits at the edge of the Rio Grande, next to the U.S.-Mexico border wall.
