Group of girls at elementary school in Bellflower find intruder inside campus bathroom

BELLFLOWER, Calif. - Parents at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School in Bellflower were on high alert and demanded more answers following an alarming encounter that occurred on campus Thursday morning. 

A parent told FOX 11 that on the morning of Oct. 26, a group of nine-year-old girls went to use the restroom and were shocked to find a man inside. The stranger asked the girls to approach him and asked that they not tell their teacher. Their intuition kicked in and the girls then ran outside the restroom and alerted the school’s staff.

"Don't tell the teacher he was in there," one of the girls recalled the man telling them.

A letter was sent out to parents about the incident at 10 a.m. 

"Prior to school starting today, an unidentified male individual was reported on the Thomas Jefferson campus," a memo written by Dr. Angelica Montelongo said. 

The alert continued to say, "The individual made his way into the girl's restroom where he spoke to a student where a few girls entered the restroom. Staff was notified immediately by the students and the individual was escorted off campus. Administration followed up by contacting the Sheriff’s Department to notify  them of the situation and ask for increased police patrol throughout the community." 

Following the encounter, the school will take the following actions effective immediately:

• All school gates will only be unlocked for students being dropped off for the YMCA program and immediately locked behind them
• A Sweep of the restrooms will be done prior to the gates being opened for students
• When the gates open for students to come on campus, an adult  will be at each student entrance to ensure that only students are able to enter campus

While parents are happy to see the school taking action to prevent something like that from happening again, they are not happy about the lack of action that day. 

Parents said the school was never placed on lockdown and that school staff did not contact the sheriff’s department until 2 p.m. 

In addition, Dr. Montelongo allegedly told parents the suspect was taken into custody when he was apparently released. Although the man was escorted off campus by people who worked at the school, a description of the suspect was not provided. 

Frustrated with the school’s lack of urgency, the parents did their own detective work and were able to fund surveillance footage from a house near the school. 

The incident remains under investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.