Rohith Tsundupalli ’24 | Bridget Murphy ’25
During the first few weeks of September, Pennsylvania state police were on a manhunt for Danelo Cavalcante, an escaped convict charged with first-degree murder. It was not until September 13th that PA state police were able to locate and catch Cavalcante in South Coventry Township. The escape has led to the reevaluation of local safety measures, and EA has been in the process of examining their protocols.
Assistant Director of Campus Safety Brian Cornibe states, “We need to be prepared for the question, ‘What would we do if something like [the Cavalcante escape] were to happen here.’ The Delaware County Prison is a short distance down the road and the prison [Cavalcante] escaped was not too far away, especially since he had a vehicle.” Cornibe thus shares EA’s protocols in the case that Cavalcante had been close to campus. “If [Cavalcante] was here, we would have been contacted by the Newtown Square Police Department and put on lockdown, and we would not have students here. If we knew he was close, we would not be having thousands of students and staff coming onto campus. An event like this is something you would be aware of and act upon accordingly as it happens.”
After his flight from the Chester County Prison, Cavalcante broke into a Popsocon Township home on September 1, hid in Longwood Gardens on September 4, remained in a creek bed on a residential property in Pennsbury Township on September 5, stole a delivery van and attempted to contact past acquaintances on September 9, and seized a rifle on September 11. Pennsylvania residents remained constantly informed of Cavalcante’s sightings by various news sources and were advised to lock all external doors and windows, secure vehicles, and remain indoors. Cornibe and Campus Security Coordinator Shyheeb Gladney first heard of Cavalcante’s escape through the news while Campus Security and Event Coordinator Anjie Sheppard first heard about it at school.
Cornibe, who had also served as a PA state trooper prior to his work at EA, offered his opinion on the incident, asserting, “The Chester County Prison should absolutely strengthen their safety protocols after [the Cavalcante escape]. The prison had a similar event before [the Cavalcante escape] and obviously, they did not take it seriously enough to change their protocols and the structure of their prison to prevent anything further.”
Due to the prison’s close proximity, Cavalcante’s escape impacted many EA community members. Jenn Jones, Upper School science teacher, explains, “Initially I was very scared because he was close to my house. Even as he got further away, there was still a sense that he could be anywhere. Anytime I heard a helicopter at night or in the morning I was nervous. I was constantly checking a live stream of where he was and there was definitely a sense of relief once he was caught.”
Lilly Smolenski ’27 adds about her family’s experience, “We were extremely scared and honestly shocked because something like this has never happened to anyone in our area before and we live in a generally safe and welcoming community.” Smolenski mentions that after she learned about the news, “[She] made sure to lock our doors and when my dad took the dog out he even brought a golf club with him to make sure that even if we did see something we had some way to defend ourselves. We also ended up bringing our block of cooking knives upstairs in case he did find some way to get in and was looking to steal weapons.”
While Cavalcante’s escape did indeed raise concerns among Pennsylvania residents, it can be noted that such incidents are not unusual. During his time as a state trooper in 2014, Cornibe was on the search for an individual in the Poconos who had previously shot two other PA troopers. He states, “The search I went on was similar to [the Cavalcante escape]; it had a lot of the same units. However, it was on a greater scale.” Cornibe, when he first heard about Cavalcante’s escape was able to relate with the PA troopers. “I understood what the state troopers were going through.” Likewise, Gladney comments that an event similar to Cavalcante’s escape happened over the past summer in a prison on State Road in Philadelphia.
Photo courtesy of npr.org
The Cavalcante incident has encouraged people to remain cognizant of their surroundings in the future and seek security if needed. As Gladney suggests, “Ultimately, security is all about being proactive. In general, anything that is established is going to have drills, protocols, and things of that nature to understand how we should behave in lockdowns. If [the Cavalcante escape] happened or not, we always have to be on our toes.”