Rumors About Incident At West Orange School Dance 'Not Credible'

WEST ORANGE, NJ — Here’s the official school and police stance on the “rumors” about an alleged incident at the Liberty/Roosevelt school dance last weekend… none of them are credible.

On Friday, 7th and 8th graders from Liberty and Roosevelt schools gathered for their annual Fall Dance from 7 to 9 p.m. at the West Orange High School cafeteria. After the dance, rumors began to spread on social media that a concerning incident took place at the event, officials said.

While school and police officials have declined to specify what “rumors” were being spread online, the buzz was enough to warrant a “noticeable police presence at both schools on Monday,” authorities said.

Acting Superintendent Eveny de Mendez released the following statement on Saturday:

“We are aware of several concerning social media postings suggesting an incident occurred after the Liberty/Roosevelt dance last night resulting in unsubstantiated rumors. We were in immediate communication with Chief Abbott of the West Orange Police Department and have confirmed that WOPD has thoroughly investigated and determined that none of the rumors are credible. The health, safety and well-being of all students and faculty in the district are our top priority. Purely as a precaution, there will be a noticeable police presence at both schools on Monday. We ask parents, students and faculty to view this as a safety measure rather than a cause for concern.”

Patch contacted the West Orange Police Department seeking further details and received this reply from Chief James Abbott on Monday:

“All occurrences involving juveniles are highly sensitive and confidential matters which preclude the confirmation or denial of any allegations and the surrounding specifics. The West Orange police are aware of the trepidations of those posting on social media and are in the process of taking certain measures to ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of all students and faculty in the district. There will be a noticeable police presence on Monday and we ask parents, students and faculty to take comfort in this rather than misconstrue our visibility as any sign of danger.”

No additional information about the police response, investigation or alleged “rumors” were immediately available.

The school district’s official statement on Facebook about the situation set off just as many questions as it answered among internet commenters:

• “I’d like to know too I was there and didn’t see anything except police were there at end of the night.”
• “What happened? My daughter was there and didn’t hear anything about this?”
• “What type of rumors? I was there last night sitting in the parking lot, watching and haven’t seen anything crazy happening. Please communicate better!”
• “Please provide more details. This notice is causing some confusion and making the parents worried. I also was at the dance at the end of the night and did not see anything. So clearly there is something else that we need to be aware of. And we need to have enough information so that we can determine for ourselves if we think our children are in danger when they return to school on Monday.”
• “I think the confusion is because there are 2 separate issues... I think some of us heard different things... it’s turning into a game of telephone.”
• “This is the vaguest statement I’ve ever read.”

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