KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Lansing Unified School District 469 announced Tuesday that it is undertaking a precautionary lockout of all schools, including Lansing High School, due to an emergency head count at the Lansing Correctional Facility.
Initially, the high school was not part of the lockout, but after receiving confirmation "there is a missing prisoner at Lansing Correctional Facility," the district added Lansing High School to the precautionary lockout.
The district said in the initial announcement that the lockout, which means nobody is allowed to enter or exit the school buildings, is a precautionary measure.
According to a posting on the Lansing USD 469 website, inmate Michael Stroede has been "placed on escape status." Lansing police confirmed Stroede's escape.
Anyone with information about Stroede or his whereabouts is asked to call 911, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation at 1-800-572-7463 or the Kansas Department of Corrections at 913-727-3235, ext. 58224.
Stroede, 43, is described as a white male, approximately 5 feet, 10 inches and 180 pounds with hazel eyes and blonde or strawberry hair. He appears to have a shaved head in an accompanying mugshot.
Stroede, who has multiple theft and drug convictions dating back to a 1997 arrest, was in a minimum security wing at Lansing Correctional Facility and was not set for release until Oct. 20, 2027, according to the KDOC's inmate search database.
He was in prison most recently for a June 2021 felony drug conviction in Rice County. He was sentenced to nine years and three months in jail for possession with intent to distribute heroin or meth.
Superintendent Dan Wessel told KSHB 41 that school would be dismissed as usual. A picture of Stroede has been distributed to all parents and extra staff were placed in parking lots to ensure student safety.
The Kansas Department of Corrections announced shortly before 3:15 p.m. that Stroede "walked away" from the prison at 11:05 a.m.
"The walk-away is currently being investigated," KDOC said in a statement. "New information will be released as it becomes available."
All students from the district were safely dismissed.
