School Threat Unfounded In Berkeley Heights

BERKELEY HEIGHTS, NJ — An anonymous school threat posted on social media that was thought to be directed towards Berkeley Heights schools was unfounded, police reported.

A concerned Berkeley Heights student who saw a re-post of a screenshot image of the school threat shared it with a school administrator on Friday, Berkeley Heights Police reported.

Another student also contacted their parent in the morning about the same post. That parent then contacted the Berkeley Heights Police Department.

During the investigation a “shelter-in-place” and other security measures were put into motion. Multiple law enforcement agencies also responded to assist in securing the Berkeley Heights school facilities.

Police spoke to a number of teens in three separate area school districts and found that the “BHS” reference in the post was unrelated to Berkeley Heights public schools, police reported.

It was found the post was originally created by a student in Belen, New Mexico, who made a threat against their Belen High School “BHS”, police said.

Law enforcement agencies in New Mexico determined the threat to be unfounded, and the 16-year-old student was arrested on Thursday as a result.

"However, since this threat has been shared multiple times via social media, it has made its way to our area," police reported.

Security measures were lifted once the investigation was completed and the findings were shared to the community on the Berkeley Heights Police Facebook page.

"The Berkeley Heights Police Department and the Berkeley Heights Board of Education take these situations very seriously, and want to reassure our community that this particular threat does not involve Governor Livingston High School or any other school in our district," police stated.

"The Berkeley Heights Police Department and Board of Education have a very close partnership, and will continue to work together to make school safety a priority. We commend the concerned students and parents for sharing information with law enforcement; and we encourage all information sharing of this type in the future."

(Image via Shutterstock)

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