CHERRY TWP — School officials say a potentially dangerous incident Friday at Moniteau Junior/Senior High School was handled efficiently and professionally by the staff and school police.

Superintendent Sean Arney said Saturday that the district’s action plan for possible safety breaches was carried out perfectly on Friday after a teacher first reported approaching a suspicious van in the school parking lot. The van’s driver was later arrested in a neighboring cemetery with multiple weapons in his vehicle.

State police charged 36-year-old William Russell, address unknown, with multiple charges, including possessing weapons on school property, driving under the influence of alcohol, disorderly conduct, and careless driving. He was housed in the Butler County Prison on $100,000 cash bond. Authorities reportedly found two loaded shotguns, a pistol and three knives inside Russell’s van.

Neither Arney, nor school police, were aware at the time that the vehicle contained weapons, but the situation was neutralized in short order.

Arney praised the school police officer who spotted the maroon Honda Odyssey driven by Russell again at a nearby cemetery after it appeared at the high school earlier in the morning. Russell was approached by a teacher at that time and lied about his reason for being in the school parking lot, according to the police report. School police spotted the vehicle again less than two hours later in the cemetery and immediately contacted state police.

“This is our first year with school police officers, and you don’t know how someone is going to truly perform until it happens,” he said. “Had we not had our school police officers, we wouldn’t have seen (the van at the cemetery).”

Arney put the school on external lockdown during the incident, which ended after lunchtime when state police arrested Russell.

External lockdown means classes go on as usual but students cannot leave the building nor can anyone enter.

“We had good communications within the district,” Arney said. “A gym class was outside and we communicated to them and they went into the field house until the lockdown was over.”

He said everyone at the school performed as outlined in district plans for an external lockdown.

School board member Michael Panza agreed.

“Everyone acted in an extremely professional way for the safety of the kids and I’m very proud of everyone as always,” Panza said. “They put the safety of the students and staff first.”

Arney said he has not talked to police about their investigation into the incident.

“I don’t know anything about what his motives or intentions were, and we didn’t know when we went into lockdown,” he said.

Arney said he is glad school police are on staff in the district, and that the lockdown went smoothly.

“I’m glad we took the course of action that we did and I just think that a coordinated effort between state police, school police officers, teachers and administrators ensured we made the safety and security of our students of the utmost importance,” Arney said.

State police are continuing to investigate the incident.