A call made to the Edgartown Police Department threatening students at Edgartown School prompted a brief lockdown Tuesday morning.
At 10:45 am, an unknown caller told EPD admins that he was currently outside the school with an assault rifle, Police Chief Bruce McNamee told The Times Tuesday.
The call was made directly to the department, and not through emergency dispatch.
This follows a series of recent hoax calls made to a number of Massachusetts schools on Monday and Tuesday.
McNamee said although EPD was made aware of the string of hoax calls, the threats could not be arbitrarily dismissed, on the chance that the call was in fact real.
Police promptly directed Edgartown School Principal Shelley Einbinder-Fleischmann to lock down the school before conducting a thorough search of the premises. Massachusetts State Police also assisted. The two law enforcement entities also reviewed surveillance.
Students and staff were released from lockdown shortly after it was determined that there was no real threat.
Edgartown police are currently assisting in a statewide investigation regarding the series of hoax calls.
Any threat, real or not, can be frightening, McNamee said. He commended the students for how well they conducted themselves.
In a call with The Times, Martha’s Vineyard Public Schools Superintendent Richie Smith reiterated the brief lockdown was enacted out of an “abundance of caution.”
Without revealing specifics of protocols for school lockdowns, Smith said that classes stop, and staff shut off lights and lock the doors. Students and employees are ordered to shelter in place.
Doors are then unlocked by police when the area is deemed safe.
Smith said he’s been in communication with parents, staff, and police chiefs around the Island. “I have asked all Island police departments to provide a presence at all of our schools for today and tomorrow out of an abundance of caution,” Smith said in an email to parents Tuesday. “I am always grateful for their care. Please don’t hesitate to contact me should you have any questions or concerns. “
No other Island towns received threats.
Eunki Seonwoo contributed to this report.
