OAKLAND — An Oakland elementary school canceled classes and officials locked down the campus Wednesday after an unmarked van with a Department of Homeland Security license plate was sighted in the area.
Oakland school district leaders said the vehicle was tied to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which has aggressively ramped up its presence in the East Bay this year.
In a statement, district officials told families their students were safe. But the presence of the van, first spotted by a crossing guard outside Hoover Elementary School, sparked widespread alarm, leading nearly 100 residents to take the streets, keeping watch over the area.
Jackie King, the crossing guard, said the van flashed its headlights at a black vehicle pulling up to the intersection of Market and Brockhurst streets in West Oakland.
The driver of the black vehicle, she said, appeared “spooked” and sped away, crashing headfirst into a parked car.
Footage captured by a nearby home’s security camera shows the vehicle screeching its tires before smashing into the sedan. The driver, a man in a white shirt, exits the vehicle and appears to jog away. The Oakland Police Department said it is investigating the crash, which happened just before 10 a.m. on the 800 block of 31st Street, near West Street and a few blocks from Hoover Elementary.
“Preliminary findings indicate that an outside law enforcement agency was conducting an investigation within the City of Oakland. During their operation, officers attempted to contact the vehicle involved in their case. That vehicle later collided with an uninvolved vehicle,” according to an OPD press release. “OPD was not notified of any outside agency conducting investigative operations in that area of Oakland.”
The elementary school campus remained on lockdown by early afternoon, with recess and lunch both canceled. A nearby preschool, Harriet Tubman CDC, was also locked down.
Outside, adults circled the block, singing friendly kids’ songs like “Itsy Bitsy Spider” in preparation to calm down any frightened children who were soon expected to leave for the day.
“It’s an extremely hard thing for educators and the babies in there,” said Olivia Udovic, who teaches at the Manzanita School but arrived to support the rally. “But we’re stepping up to keep the community safe.”
Around 1:25 p.m., school staff began escorting first-graders and kindergartners out to their parents. They were greeted with cheers from the gathered crowd.