A Monday morning, Dec. 1, incident in Laneville, Armstrong County, caused police to notify the Freeport Area School District superintendent that buses for elementary students may be delayed or forced to find an alternate route.

Southern Armstrong Regional police were dispatched to an incident at 52 Main St. for reports of a burglary, according to Chief Christopher Fabec. Police said three men were detained at the scene and referred to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Police said when they arrived, they learned at least one man was in the attic crawl space of a vacant apartment. The man was located in a small access point after attempts to remove him from the attic. Police said the man did not identify himself, spoke little English and kept repeating, “I am from Mexico.”

Police said they discovered there was at least one other person in the attic and unsuccessfully attempted to get them to exit. Officers then entered the crawl space and found a small hole that dropped into a neighboring apartment.

Police said they entered the other apartment and found two additional men. They did not have identification and also did not speak English, but their appearance was consistent with being in the attic, police said.

Police then contacted ICE and discovered the three men had active warrants and allegedly were in the country illegally. Custody was then transferred to ICE.

Officers said they were informed the men were believed to be armed, so police contacted Freeport superintendent Ian Magness to delay or find alternate routes for buses picking up elementary students in the area.

Magness was not immediately available for comment.