Juneau police say they’re investigating what appears to be an attempted abduction of a student from near Gastineau Elementary School on Thursday afternoon.
Officers say the fifth-grader was walking away from the school when approached by a man in a small green vehicle. The man told the boy that his mother had asked him to pick him up. But the boy – not knowing the man – asked him for the family password. Since the man didn’t know the secret word and tried guessing it, the boy broke off contact and went home. He told his mother who then called the school.
Lieutenant David Campbell says JPD teaches parents and kids to have a safety password for any potential encounters with strangers.
“We do have two school resource officers that work in the schools,” Campbell says. “And one of the classes that they teach every year to the school district is what’s referred to as ‘Stranger Danger.’ So, that is a pretty standard tool used for parents, and in this case it was a very successful one.”
Campbell says the case is under investigation as attempted child enticement.
