Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

A deer broke into a New Jersey elementary school. Its escape was caught on police bodycams

A New Jersey elementary school had an unexpected visitor over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend

Via AP news wire
Monday 04 December 2023 16:45 EST

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

A New Jersey elementary school had an unexpected visitor over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend: A deer jumped through a small window and knocked over items in a classroom before fleeing the building.

A man walking his dog around 10 p.m. on Nov. 25 saw the young deer smash through a window at Cedar Grove Elementary School in Toms River, which is about 60 miles east (96.5 kilometers) of Philadelphia. The man notified police, and their subsequent search of the school was recorded by the officers' bodycams.

When officers encountered the deer in a stairwell, the animal — who police have nicknamed “Rudolph” — initially charged at them as it ran down a hallway. It then entered a classroom by opening a door that happened to be unlatched and jumped onto a bookshelf, scattering some items — but it didn't cause any major damage.

The officers eventually used a dog snare to get the deer out of the classroom, and it soon fled the building the same way it got in. Authorities said the animal didn’t appear to be seriously injured.

School staffers boarded up the window and cleaned up after the deer’s escape.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in