Phony Threat Sends ORR into Lockdown
At 11:55 am Thursday, April 13, police were called to Old Rochester Regional Junior High and High School in response to a call the Mattapoisett Police Department received warning of a person with a gun at the schoo
During a press conference at the Mattapoisett police station Thursday afternoon, Mattapoisett Police Captain Anthony Days described the report as a call the Police Department received from an out-of-state call center that picked up on an Internet inbound chat screen threat of a gunman at ORR.
“We set up a perimeter, assessed the situation, and came to the conclusion that it was a hoax,” said Days.
The lockdown was lifted at 1:00 pm and school resumed as usual, including after school activities.
Police armed with assault rifles guarded points of egress outside the building and only a few parties could be seen leaving during the lockdown escorted by police.
Over time, concerned parents, grandparents, and residents pulled off the road to question police about the police activity at the school and waited until the commotion had ended.
All entrances to the school property were blocked off by police vehicles until the threat was assessed and police at the scene were called to the main ORR High School entrance for debriefing.
The Massachusetts State Police issued a statement earlier that day saying that it was aware of 32 schools in the state that received such threats, but refrained at the time from specifying which ones for tactical reasons.
The source of the threats is under FBI investigation.
School Superintendent Doug White issued a statement to the press from the Mattapoisett police station describing the threat and Days said the Police Department would be issuing a further press release later in the evening.
“Appropriate safety and lockdown procedures were followed as authorities from all three communities responded to the campus,” said White.
Principal Michael Devoll, also present for the press conference, said parents would be contacted that evening to reassure them that their children were safe during the lockdown and that they should report to school the next day on Friday as usual.
“We don’t believe there is any threat to students attending school [tomorrow],” Devoll said. There would be a police presence the next day during school hours, and trained staff was available to counsel students.
The last time the school went into lockdown mode was about ten years ago, Devoll said, when a threatening message was found on a bathroom wall. Students were evacuated at that time and transported to Tabor Academy while a bomb squad investigated.
“But nothing’s happened in the last ten years of this involvement,” he said.
By Jean Perry
I go to that school and it was scary. All of us were in an assembly and we were all freaked out. We were in lock down for like 25 minutes