School threats in Connecticut led to the lockdown of 17 campuses in Fairfield on Friday. There were at least three bomb threats at different schools within the school district Friday morning. All 17 public schools were placed on lockdown after phone calls someone threatened violence with guns or pipe bombs.
The lockdown lasted two hours. NBC Connecticut reports that the school threats in Connecticut included some private and parochial schools being ordered into a certain level of security mode.
According to the report, police went into “high alert around 9 a.m. when a man called them, claiming he was at a home on Black Rock Turnpike and had killed his girlfriend, was holding a hostage, and was in possession of guns and pipe bombs.”
Officers responded to the call, closed down the street, and checked all of the houses in the neighborhood. They learned that there was no such address. Soon after that, school threats in Fairfield started coming in, with someone saying they were going to use guns and bombs.
Lt. James Perez of Fairfield Police said that he wasn’t sure if the Black Rock Turnpike call was intended as a diversion or part of the plan with the school threats in Connecticut. He said that law enforcement has to take such calls very seriously because it’s critical that they do.
A school threat to Holland Hill Elementary School involved a man saying that he was coming down with an M-16. Roger Ludlowe High School received a threat about a bomb in the school, and Fairfield Warde High School received a call reporting that pipe bombs were placed throughout the school.
It’s possible two more schools received bomb threats as well.
Law enforcement had to go through each and every single one of the 17 schools in Fairfield to make sure that all those inside were safe. Police officers from Westport, Trumbull, Newtown, Easton, and Bridgeport arrived to help in the search as well. State resources from several agencies were on standby in case their assistance was requested, Governor Dannel Malloy said.
Lockdown in #FairfieldSchools See video of tense moments with one parent EWN @ 5 #abc7ny pic.twitter.com/ZLcU4BOQue
— Tim Fleischer (@TimFleischer7) October 23, 2015
All morning, police emphasized the importance that parents stay home amid the school threats in Connecticut. They warned them that if they attempted to show up at schools, they’d be turned away. Perez let everyone know that the kids were locked down and safe. Police were present at every school and an emergency operation center was set up at police headquarters where coordinating efforts with the fire department, other police departments, and other agencies were designed to investigate the gun and bomb threats.
School officials decided to release students from the Fairfield schools on an early dismissal schedule at 11:45 a.m. Some parents ignored the warnings of police and were found outside of the school waiting for students as they walked out of the buildings.
Students weren’t aware of the school threats in Connecticut until they noticed teachers looking more alarmed after the calls were coming in. Other students said they were nervous and fearful, but relaxed more as time passed.
Police presence at all Fairfield schools after threats made this morning. pic.twitter.com/9jVzf00Yap
— Matt McFarland (@MattMcFarland3) October 23, 2015
After-school activities in Fairfield on Friday were postponed after the threatening phone calls.
Police are continuing in their investigatation and are asking that anyone who may know anything about the threatening calls to contact police at 203-254-4840.
ABC News reports that the Fairfield School District has 10,058 students .
School violence has increased in epic proportions with everything from threats to violence to actual heinous acts being committed on campuses. The school threats in Connecticut was a grim reminder that those phone calls could have meant many people were going to be hurt or killed.
[Photo Credit: Fairfieldschools.org ]
