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Emu on the loose causes lockdown at Delaware schools

Nov 11, 2015

Drew Hurst thought his grandson was joking when he said a giant bird caused his Delaware school to lock down.
“You weren’t allowed to go play in school because a giant emu was running around in your playground and it was being chased by police?” Hurst asked the boy.

He was shocked and amused to find out his grandson was telling the truth.

A runaway emu was spotted near Spring Meadow Early Childhood Center and Old State Elementary School in Townsend, Delaware Monday. Both schools enacted a “soft lockdown,” according to a statement sent by Spring Meadow.

School officials sent a letter to parents informing them that students remained inside the buildings and normal activity continued.

"We received a report of police activity at a home just down the street from Spring Meadow," the letter reads. "We then found out that the police activity involved the infamous emu that has been on the loose for quite a while in this area."

Officials believe the emu is an escaped pet of an owner who has yet to claim it. It has been on the loose in Delaware for months.

"I am getting frustrated," Dan Stonebraker, who runs the 3 Palms Petting Zoo in Clayton, Delaware told NBC. "Yesterday we were out there for a few hours, and we got closer than ever. We had our hands on it, physically, twice."

Officials say shooting the bird with a tranquilizer is a last resort to capture it.

No one was injured during the incident.

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