Man in tactical gear arrested in Hyde Park school scare

News 12
8 followers
Oct 14, 2026
AI Generated·May contain errors
A man at the center of a school scare
in Dutchess County is now facing felony charges.
It comes just days after he was spotted by police armed
and in tactical gear on school grounds.
Blaise Gomez has the latest including why parents say
the district failed to protect their kids.
The situation was grossly mishandled.
That's the outrage from Hyde Park parents.
You fought harder more for battery-powered buses than you
are for school safety right now.
after police now say this man rode his bike
in camouflage onto Haviland Middle School grounds
during the school day and was found nearby with a knife,
bulletproof vest and rifle magazines.
We just need transparency.
I want to know what happened from start to finish.
Parents packed a school board meeting last
week questioning why there wasn't a lockdown
and why parents weren't notified until after seven that night.
Police arrested the suspect, Daniel Prospero,
Tuesday and released his mugshot.
He now faces six felony weapons charges and two misdemeanors.
Authorities say the rifle magazine he had was filled with ammo,
but that no gun was ever found.
The district says middle school students were outside here
when staff saw Prospero on the property and called police.
An online petition is now calling for the superintendent to resign
over how the incident was handled and has nearly 200 signatures.
The superintendent says staff didn't see Prospero
with any weapons at school, which is why a lockdown was in order.
This incident has really forced us
to reevaluate the way that we conduct business.
In Hyde Park, Dutchess County, Blaise Gomez, News 12.
Blaise, thank you. The district says
the principal of its elementary school behind
the middle school suddenly resigned this week, but didn't say why.
