A friend who’s daughter is a student at Park Slope’s Middle School 51 today had this to say about the incident, which occurred around 12:00 Thursday afternoon.

“I was told by one of the school’s deans that there was a robbery at Commerce Bank (OTBKB note: it was actually Astoria Bank on 10th Street and Fifth Avenue). Two armed robbers ran out of the bank. One got caught near the bank; the other kept running. He opened the money bag and the dye that is packed with the money exploded on him. He kept running.

SWAT teams and helicopters were notified. One member of the SWAT team has a kid at MS 51. He notified the school to go into lock down. Teachers were told to close the classroom doors. The school is saying that the second armed robber was never inside the school.”

Today was the 8th grade graduation. The entire 8th grade, administration and many teachers were at the graduation at the Brooklyn Marriott. My friend, who runs the Old Stone House, got a message from the drama teacher between 12 and 1 warning her that she should lock herself inside The Old Stone House. At the time she was at the Havana Outpost having a celebratory graduation lunch.

At the school, the parents were notified and the kids were sent home. A letter went home informing parents about the incident. It is believed that the school was closed down as a precaution by the SWAT team.