CYPRESS, Texas — A mother got quite the scare after she saw a suspicious man in her children’s school parking lot.
“There’s no words to describe it,†said Sarah Atchison. “It’s the biggest nightmare of my life.â€
Atchison said it started when she dropped her 2- and 4-year-olds off at Primrose School of Barker Cypress in the 16500 block of Dundee Road.
“When I parked my car, I saw him just wringing his hands pacing looking very, very anxious,†recalled Atchison. “I didn’t know what to think of him.â€
She rushed her children in and told the office staff. They ended up calling 911, pulled the children off the playground and went into lockdown.
Atchison remembered the moment when her son realized what was going on.
“My son asked me is that a bad man mommy? Is he gonna go to jail?†she said. “I didn’t know what to say to him.â€
So she looked out the window, noticed the man was now digging in his pockets and decided to call 911, too.
“There was a point where I was begging for the police to get there because they said, ‘Do you see any weapons?’ I said, ‘No. I don’t. I don’t know what he has on him,’†Atchison said.
From the time the initial 911 call was made, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office said it took a deputy 16 minutes to arrive at the school. A spokesperson explained that because no weapons were seen and it was not a life or death situation, the call was listed as a low priority.
“The safety of the children is a major priority compared to having a vehicle stolen or a house broken into,†said mother Krystal Turbeville.
Luckily, it turned out to be a false alarm. The man was from the new cleaning crew and didn’t have an appointment.
Atchison questioned the deputy.
“I said I’ve been on the phone with you for 13 minutes and you’re just now getting here? He said ‘we’ve been kind of busy pulling a body out of a lake.’ I left. I couldn’t handle it anymore.†Atchison said.
No one likes to talk about the “what if,†but Atchison believes she got a glimpse and it scares her even more.
