Police: ‘Unauthorized juveniles’ cause temporary lockdown at Bloomfield High School
School officials say the lockdown was a precaution and there was no threat.
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Students and parents in Bloomfield got a scare this morning following reports of an intruder inside Bloomfield High School. Students were placed on lockdown for a time as police searched the school.
The lockdown was ordered at 9 a.m., but by 11 a.m. parents were lined up outside the school and around the block, waiting to pick up their children.
Many had been texting with their children. Some parents were in tears, fearing the worst.
“We had been texting with our kids for over an hour but we didn’t have any information, so I got in the car to pick him up,” a parent named Carmen told News 12. "He heard through a couple of kids that maybe there were guns but we didn’t know if there were."
Superintendent Sal Gonclaves said that as soon as the report of an intruder was received he took measures to secure the 2,000 students and 250 staffers.
“The police secured the building with an entire search from top to bottom,” Gonclaves said. “The system worked. The Bloomfield police and district worked cooperatively.”
Police started an investigation after getting word from school officials of what they called, “unauthorized juveniles within the vicinity of the high school.”
Students, who had been huddled together in classrooms, were admittedly afraid after they were told there may have been two intruders inside the school - possibly with weapons.
“I was really scared, like I didn’t know what to do. I was texting my parents,” student Gerlyne Gotrasse said.
Another student who was with his mom walking away from the school said, “I was pretty scared because all I heard from security was that one was in a black hoodie and a lot of people wear black hoodies.”
Police searched the interior of the building and found no threat.
While many students left school early, classes did resume. The superintendent said that all after-school activities and sports would take place as normally scheduled.
