FORT MYERS — The Principal at Fort Myers High School said the school is reviewing security procedures after a hospital patient got inside the building.
This happened on Thursday during the school day. The school is very close to Lee Memorial Hospital where that man was being treated. The patient ran through the gate outside the school, and he was able to find an unlocked door. In a message to parents Principal Robert Butz said the man spent about two minutes inside the building.
We spoke with a former student at Fort Myers High who said security has been an issue for years.
The video of the man running in his underwear through the school courtyard quickly made its way around social media, and onto Reece Hall’s phone.
“It’s a bit weird to get a text from my brother with a video of somebody running across campus in his underwear. that’s a crazy thing, but it’s not, it’s not shocking considering all the security problems that i know that they had," said Hall.
Hall graduated from Fort Myers High last school year, and she said security was an issue back then.
“During the school day, there were doors all over the school that were pretty much always unlocked," said Hall.
In his email to parents, Principal Butz addressed the unlocked doors, saying "Fort Myers High School has 7 separate buildings used for academic purposes, all of which have external doors that must be accessible to students," said Butz.
But Hall said leaving those doors unlocked is a security risk, and she even brought it up with the District.
“I gave a speech at the School Board meeting about the need for school safety especially, and my biggest concern had always been all of the doors that were unlocked and how easy it was to actually get in the school," said Hall.
Hall said she was disappointed to see that the policy wasn’t changed after that speech, but she hopes this incident finally makes the school rethink safety.
“There’s a lot of things that they could do, and hopefully, if they do a safety review, they’ll realize that and fix some things," said Hall
Lee Health said the patient is now safely back in its care.
