A Luzerne County Sheriff’s Department vehicle blocks an entrance to the parking lot of the county human services building, which houses the Children, Youth and Families agency, on Wednesday afternoon.
Elizabeth Baumeister | Times Leader
County Sheriff’s Department personnel stand guard outside the county human services building, which houses the Children, Youth and Families agency, on Wednesday afternoon.
Elizabeth Baumeister | Times Leader
The Luzerne County human services building, which houses the Children, Youth and Families agency, is on lockdown on Wednesday afternoon due to a third-party shooting threat.
Elizabeth Baumeister | Times Leader
County Sheriff Department personnel and K-9 stand guard outside the county human services building, which houses the Children, Youth and Families agency, on Wednesday afternoon.
Elizabeth Baumeister | Times Leader
Employees at Luzerne County’s Human Services Building on Pennsylvania Avenue in Wilkes-Barre were ordered to remain in the building Wednesday afternoon due to a “third-party shooting threat” related to the county Children, Youth and Families agency, county Manager Romilda Crocamo told county council in an email.
Crocamo later announced the lockdown was lifted around 2:30 p.m.
She said this was “not a report of an active shooter” and that law enforcement is continuing its investigation of the matter.
County Sheriff’s Department personnel and Wilkes-Barre Police were at the scene, Crocamo said.
The county-owned property houses county CYF workers and other human services personnel.
County officials had increased security cameras and procedures at the Human Services Building and other county government properties over the last decade or so, largely due to the high-stress nature of matters under the county’s responsibility. These include child custody and support cases, parental terminations, court verdicts and tax and mortgage foreclosure auctions, officials have said.
In March 2017, a firebombing at the CYF offices was quickly extinguished without injuries.
Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.
