At Least 5 NJ School Threats Investigated In Last 72 Hours

Police departments in several New Jersey communities have been increasing their presence at area schools following a rash of potential threats in their local school districts over the last 72 hours. The actions also followed the mass fatal shooting of 17 people at a Florida high school last week.

Princeton Public Schools announced this week that they plan to change the district's safety and security protocols after the Florida shooting, as well as a recent incident in which a former student entered and later left Princeton High School, the district told Planet Princeton.

Also, controversy arose at a New Jersey school district where parents were notified about a student's threat "to shoot up" a school, according to NBC4 New York. The threat was made several months ago, but the violence was supposed to take place on Friday at Ramapo Ridge Middle School in Mahwah.

Some parents were angry after getting word about the threat and accused Mahwah schools of withholding the information for months, according to Daily Voice. The principal later disputed that information about the threat had been withheld, noting that at an email was sent to parents on Oct. 28.

Threats were also investigated in these school districts:

Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School district

A Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District student has been arrested in connection with a threat made to a school, Aberdeen Township police said Saturday.

In a Facebook post Saturday evening, police said the student has been charged with making terroristic threats.

The student and the student's guardians are cooperating, police said, and there does not appear to be "a credible active security threat to any school or person." The investigation is continuing, police said. Read more here...

Parsippany

Brooklawn Middle School was place on lockdown after a bullet was found in the hallway, Parsippany Police said Friday afternoon.

The bullet was found at 2:25 p.m. by a student, and the school was placed on lockdown afterwards. Police searched the school for any possible threats, weapons, or other ammunition.

After police finished the search, students were dismissed for the day around 3 p.m. Read more here...

Nutley

Nutley schools were closed on Friday because school officials said there was a security threat.

Nutley Superintendent Julie Glazer said the district administration became aware of a security threat Thursday night from a video posted on Instagram. The police were actively investigating.

"As it gets later in the evening, we have decided to err on the side of safety and close schools tomorrow, Feb. 16, 2018," she wrote in a Facebook post. "We will use one of our two remaining emergency days and close the Nutley Public School district, for all students, staff and personnel. All evening events at our schools for Friday, February 16 will be canceled, as well." Read more here...

East Brunswick

An East Brunswick High School student was arrested Friday after allegedly making a terroristic threat in an online post, school officials said. The district also plans to place armed police officers at each school building in response to the Florida shootings.

Franklin Township, Somerset County

A 14-year-old male student was taken into custody and charged after a threat was made against the high school on Thursday, police said.

The teen was processed and released to his parents. School officials have suspended the student from school.

Late Thursday, members of the Board of Education became aware of a threat made against Franklin Township High School on social media, according to police.

The board immediately contacted the Franklin Township Police Department. After an investigation, police determined that it was not a credible threat and the students were never in any danger as a result of this incident, police said.

(Image via Morguefile)