'I Don't Want To Die!': Students' Terror During LI 'Hold-In-Place'

RIVERHEAD, NY — A "hold-in-place" response at Riverhead High school after bullets were found in the hallway Friday led to terrified students, not sure if there was an active shooter in the building, calling their parents to say, "I love you." And now, parents are demanding answers from the school administration about security measures.

Monique Parsons, her daughter, 14 and a freshman, forgot her cell phone Friday and borrowed a friend's. "She texted me and said, 'Mom, I don't think this is a drill. I'm very scared.' She kept telling me that she loved me. We were totally petrified."

Riverhead Central School District Superintendent Dr. Augustine Tornatore wrote a letter to families in the district Friday afternoon about the incident; he said a student found the bullet earlier Friday and immediately brought it to the attention of building administration.

A second student came to building administration with a bullet he was given that matched the first, Tornatore said. The Riverhead Police Department was immediately involved and began conducting an investigation. The school was put in a hold-in-place response until the student who brought the bullets to school was apprehended, Tornatore said.

The student did not have a weapon and is currently in police custody, Tornatore said. Riverhead High School moved from a hold-in-place response to a lockout to normal conditions, Tornatore said.

"At no point were any students, faculty or staff in harm’s way," Tornatore said. "Safety remains our highest priority, and the district will continue working with Riverhead Police on this investigation."

But for Parsons and other parents, the situation seemed all too real. "I told my daughter to stay calm, to stay away from the doors, to stay quiet, and to listen to what the teacher was telling her," Parsons said. "About 10 minutes later, she called me again from another phone and said, 'Mom, this really isn't a drill. I'm scared. We're all huddled in a corner and nobody knows what's going on — and my teacher is really upset.'"

And then, Parson's said, her daughter uttered the words that shattered her mother's heart: "She said, 'I don't want to die!'"

Her voice filled with tears, Parsons said she woke up her husband — a police officer who works night shifts — and he said he'd stay with their baby while she headed to the school and he made calls.

When she got to the school, Parsons said the parking lot was "packed. Parents were parked in the drop-off lanes." Many parents said they hadn't gotten calls from the school about what was happening, she said, but instead, from their kids. "The kids were hysterical, crying — they were scared," she said.

Parsons said no one knew what was going on — not students, not teachers, and not frantic parents.

"I told one officer, through the window of the car, 'I want to get my kid out of there!'" she said, adding that she didn't want to gain access to the school, just to have her daughter out.

She was told, she said, that there was no threat.

"At the doors, frantic moms were screaming, 'I want my kids!'" Parsons said. She said that while there was a security guard at the front door, there were none at the side doors and kids started streaming out. What concerned her, she said, was that while students could leave freely from those side doors, so could a person posing a potential threat.

Finally, parents were allowed to enter the school and sign out their children in the attendance office, she said.

Parsons was left with questions: "This entire situation was handled so inappropriately," she said. One staffer told her the situation with an unstaffed side door was the norm, Parsons said. "This tells me that our school here is not safe for our kids. I am skeptical about sending my kid back to school there. There needs to be a complete overhaul of the security system."

She also questioned if any drills had been given at all during the current school year, something she said is essential for students and staff.

When asked about security and drills, the Riverhead Central School District issued a statement: "The district is in compliance with the required drills up to this point in the school year. At Riverhead High School, lockdown drills are completed each quarter, fulfilling the high school lockdown drill requirement of four each school year."

Nobody was allowed to enter or leave the building during the hold-in-place response and lockout, the statement said. Once the lockout was lifted, students were allowed to resume normal movements and exit the building to attend ninth period. In addition, teachers were continually being updated and given information on the situation as it progressed.

"Nobody knew anything," Parson disagreed. "Security did not inform the teachers as to what type, or level of threat there was."

A process needs to be put in place, Parsons believed. "If this were a more serious situation, there would have been lives that were seriously in danger, or worse," Parsons said.

The only way her own daughter knew what was happening was that when she asked to use the rest room, she was told by a guard that there was a "dangerous situation" unfolding, and she needed to go back and lock her classroom door, Parsons said.

Parsons and her daughter were still devastated Friday afternoon. "I'm upset," she said. "To think that there could be a day when I send my kid to school and not take her home, it's unconscionable."

Parent Miyoshi Foster also spoke with Patch: "I was worried. I had just picked up my son for a doctor's appointment, and he got a text message from his girlfriend. She was scared because the police were in the building searching for a student that they thought may have had a gun. Her father is an officer, so she was really scared, too," she said.

The incident took place just four days after a Board of Education member apologized and then resigned after backlash about comments she made expressing concerns about crime and student safety.

It was the second incident reported involving Riverhead High School this week, following the resignation of BOE Vice-President Laurie Downs.

A 16- year-old boy was attacked and cut with a knife on his way home from Riverhead High School Tuesday, police said.

According to Riverhead Town police, the incident took place at 1:33 p.m. on Old Country Road in Riverhead. The teen was walking home and was behind Harbor Freight Tools heading to the adjacent shopping plaza when he was confronted by five male juveniles, wearing black ski masks, who demanded his personal belongings while displaying a knife, police said.

A struggle ensued and the teen was cut in the chest with the knife, police said. He was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

The incidents took place after Downs resigned following a sea of heated opposition to statements she made at a recent civic association meeting.

According to a post in Riverhead Local, Downs was speaking about her concerns about possible gangs, and that students were getting jumped and robbed; Riverhead Town Police Chief David Hegermiller said the data did not support those fears.

The comments were made at a Heart of Riverhead Civic Association meeting on March 18 during which Hegermiller was engaging in a dialogue with the public. Her words, "I don't want us to become a Brentwood," caused enormous backlash, with members of both the Brentwood and Riverhead communities speaking out at what they called "hate-filled" and "racist" comments.

A meeting was held at the school this week, with many Brentwood representatives and advocacy groups stating that her apology was "not enough" and change needed to happen.