Police: Teacher Arrested For Bringing Ammo Into School To Prove It Needs Metal Detectors

Police arrested a Massachusetts high school teacher Thursday after he allegedly placed live ammunition in one of the building’s staircases.

Surveillance cameras showed Southbridge High School biology teacher Alfred Purcell, 57, drop a live round of 9 mm ammunition on the floor and leave the area. Police said Purcell pretended to find the ammunition later, ABC News reported Thursday

Purcell allegedly told police he placed the ammunition to “prove to the school that they needed to get metal detectors.”

The school was placed on lockdown for an hour, but nobody was harmed.

Police said more than 100 live rounds of shotgun ammunition were found in Purcell’s vehicle. The teacher’s license to carry a gun was also expired in Connecticut, according to WCVB.

“This individual acted in a disgusting manner,” Southbridge Public Schools (SPS) superintendent Jeffrey Villar said, WCVB reported. “I feel very badly for our students because it is an adult who failed them.”

The high school decided not to renew Purcell’s contract before Thursday’s incident, according to WCVB.

SPS did not immediately respond to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.