Police: Man was buzzed into Darby elementary school with gun, drugs

DARBY, Pa. (WTXF) - Police say a man armed with a loaded handgun was buzzed into a Darby elementary school on Friday.

Nazher Sabree, 21, was later arrested after attempting to enter nearby homes.

Darby Borough Police Chief Robert Smythe says Sabree was recognized as a former student by an office employee and allowed into Park Lane Elementary School while carrying a loaded .40 caliber handgun and drugs.

Smythe initially criticized the principal, Dr. Dawnee Watson-Bouie, for failing to activate the school's emergency police response. Watson-Bouie was reportedly notified that Sabree was acting erratically outside the school earlier in the day, but video surveillance shows no evidence that Sabree was armed.

Sabree had told the principal he was looking for a bag he'd lost, and she escorted him out of the building.

Watson-Bouie then conducted a security check with the school security officer and observed Sabree in the baseball field behind the school. Police were notified when Sabree was seen trying to get inside nearby houses.

Responding officers observed that Sabree was armed, prompting the school to go on lockdown. Police say that Sabree threatened officers with the gun before he was arrested.

The school says the incident remains under investigation.

A preliminary hearing for Sabree is scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 16.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.