Police have identified the suspect who was shot dead on the campus of the Alexander Dreyfoos School of the Arts on Friday. Romen Phelps, 33, was in an altercation with a West Palm Beach police officer in the auditorium when he was killed. 58:00 a.m. It then moved to a “code yellow” lockdown. Stay informed: Local WPBF coverage 25 NewsOfficials said Phelps got out of his van after driving through a locked door and hitting several structures on campus. He then passed students having lunch outside and ran into a building. The school resource officer and principal confronted Phelps and, according to police, had a physical altercation with the school resource officer. Phelps then broke free. Stay informed: WPBF 25 News local coverage This officer located Phelps who had fled into the auditorium. Officials say Phelps violently attacked the off-duty officer and the officer fired a bullet. West Palm Beach police said other officers immediately began CPR in an effort to resuscitate Phelps. He was pronounced dead at the scene by West Palm Beach firefighters. School superintendent Mike Burke confirmed to WPBF 25 investigative reporter Terri Parker that there was only one school policeman assigned to the school – a female who replaced the regular officer. The district currently lacks about 65 school police officers and uses the sheriff. deputies and city officials to help protect schools. The Dreyfoos School Police officer immediately called for reinforcements and a school police lieutenant along with West Palm Beach police rushed to the school. The original school police officer was able to track down the suspect as he roamed the campus, knocking on classroom doors, the students said. or an altercation between the school police officer, another staff member, and Phelps occurred. “The suspect ran into Building Seven, which is the auditorium. Staff and the suspect. A West Palm Beach police officer discharged his weapon striking the suspect,” Jachles said. Jachles said he didn’t didn’t know if the suspect had a weapon if she had a chance to detain and handcuff him before the West Palm Beach police officer arrived and fired.Police reiterated that the suspect was violent and erratic, and that appropriate force was used. The officer is on administrative leave, per protocol. In The Headlines: The air traffic controller guides the passenger to a safe landing at PBIA after the pilot had a medical emergency Bella, a student, said she was having lunch in Building 7, where there is a hall, and a man was knocking on a door. The professor told her to leave, she said. After hearing there had been a shooting and realizing the doors wouldn’t close. weren’t hiding, Bella said she and a friend ran to the Tri-Rail station because there was nowhere to hide. You never really know what’s going to happen wherever you are…it’s quite concerning,” Bella said. Adam Myers, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, West Palm Beach, released the following statement “The Fraternal Order of Police considers any loss of life to be unfortunate. The responding officer at Dreyfoos School of the Arts did so to assist the Palm Beach County School District Police and protect the children and staff. If not for the heroic actions of the officer, the resulting tragedy could have been far greater. At the end of the investigation, when all the facts are known, we are confident that the public will come to a similar conclusion.”Follow us on social media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram is on the scene. This is a developing story and will be updated as information becomes available.
Police have identified the suspect who was shot dead on the campus of the Alexander Dreyfoos School of the Arts on Friday.
Romen Phelps, 33, was in an altercation with a West Palm Beach police officer in the auditorium when he was killed.
The public high school, located on South Sapodilla Avenue, was originally under “code red” lockdown after the 11:58 a.m. incident. It was later locked under “code yellow”.
Stay informed: Local coverage of WPBF 25 News
Officials said Phelps got out of his van after driving through a locked door and hitting several structures on campus. He then walked past students having lunch outside and ran into a building.
The school resource officer and principal confronted Phelps and, according to police, had a physical altercation with the school resource officer. Phelps then broke free.
Stay informed: Local coverage of WPBF 25 News
An off-duty West Palm Beach police officer driving near the school responded a minute after hearing an officer call for emergency backup.
This officer located Phelps who had fled into the auditorium. Officials say Phelps violently attacked the off-duty officer and the officer fired a bullet.
West Palm Beach police said other officers immediately began CPR in an effort to resuscitate Phelps. He was pronounced dead at the scene by West Palm Beach firefighters.
School superintendent Mike Burke confirmed to WPBF 25 investigative reporter Terri Parker that there was only one school police officer assigned to the school – a woman who replaced the regular officer.
The district is currently short of about 65 school police officers and is using sheriff’s deputies and city officers to help protect schools.
The Dreyfoos School Police officer immediately called for reinforcements and a school police lieutenant and West Palm Beach police rushed to the school. The original school police officer was able to track down the suspect as he roamed the campus, knocking on classroom doors, the students said.
Police spokesman Mike Jachles said the West Palm Beach police officer responded to the school auditorium, where some sort of fight or altercation between the West Palm Beach police officer school, another staff member and Phelps had occurred.
“The suspect ran into building seven which is the auditorium. At that point there was a struggle – there was some sort of fight that ensued between the officer, the staff of the “school and the suspect. A West Palm Beach police officer discharged his weapon striking the suspect,” Jachles said.
Jachles said he didn’t know if the suspect had a weapon.
It was also unclear how long the school police officer was with the suspect and whether she had the opportunity to detain and handcuff him before the West Palm Beach police officer arrives and does not shoot.
Police reiterated that the suspect was violent and erratic, and that appropriate force was used.
The officer is on administrative leave, per protocol.
In The Headlines: Air traffic controller guides passenger to safe landing at PBIA after pilot suffers medical emergency
Bella, a student, said she was having lunch in Building 7, where there is a lobby, and a man was knocking on a door. The teacher told her to leave, she said.
After hearing there had been a shooting and realizing the doors wouldn’t close, Bella said she and a friend ran to the Tri-Rail station because there was nowhere to hide.
“It’s very telling. You never really know what’s going to happen wherever you are…it’s quite disturbing,” Bella said.
Adam Myers, President of the Fraternal Order of Police, West Palm Beach released the following statement:
“The Fraternal Order of Police considers any loss of life to be regrettable. The officer who responded to Dreyfoos School of the Arts did so to assist the Palm Beach County School District Police and protect the children and personnel. Were it not for the heroic actions of the officer, the resulting tragedy could have been far greater. At the end of the investigation, when all the facts are known, we are confident that the public will reach a similar conclusion.”
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Several law enforcement agencies are currently investigating.
A team from WPBF 25 News is on the scene.
This is a developing story and will be updated as information becomes available.
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