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MHS Lockdown |
By Milton Times Staff But despite a four-hour search of the school, which involved K-9 units from the Boston and Quincy police departments, police and school officials say no weapon was found and no one was ever in danger. “There was nothing that went with the [shotgun] shell. There was no note or threat anywhere. [But] finding ammunition on the scene is the same as finding a gun. We took this very seriously,” said Police Chief Richard Wells Jr. According to Wells, police received word shortly after 9 a.m. that the shell had been found on the school grounds. A parent dropping a student off at the school saw it outside the main entrance to the building and notified school officials, who removed the round before calling police, he said. Wells said it was clear the round had not been there long. “It was there only recently. It had not been exposed to the weather,” he said. At around 11:30 a.m., police and school officials made the decision to place the high school under “Stay in Place/Lock Down,” informing students to remain in their current classroom while the search was conducted. “School bags were checked by Milton High School administrators and police for a possible weapon. No weapon was found. At no time were students in jeopardy,” said an official statement from the school e-mailed to parents at around 3:30 p.m., about 15 minutes after students were dismissed. Wells said police and school staff made a conscious decision not to send out the alert until the school was declared safe. “It was by design. It allowed us to run the operation they way it was supposed to be run,” he said. “You want to avoid any chaos. There was a real potential of a gun being in the school.” He said the search was “very methodical,” and included the use of BeSafe Technologies, a new emergency-response system to the department that gives authorities digital access to Web-based image layouts of all the school buildings. Despite students with cell phones having the ability to communicate what was happening – and various media outlets appearing on scene – Wells said the frequently practiced emergency plan ran smoothly.“It didn’t affect what we were doing,” he said of the media attention. “We had the facility completely under our control.” The room-by-room search involved four teams of four officers and four school staff, under the operation of Deputy Chief Charles Paris, said the chief, who added that no further investigation is planned. A Milton High freshman who spoke anonymously said there was a lot of uncertainty, even among the teachers. “All the students were texting and wondering what was going on. The teacher [in our classroom] had no idea what was happening. We were finding out more about what was happening than the teacher,” the student said. “I was definitely nervous but I found out pretty quickly that there wasn’t someone in the building with a gun.” On the day after the incident, School Superintendent Mary Gormley praised everyone involved for remaining calm during the situation. “I can’t say enough,” she said. “The Milton police were phenomenal, the teachers and administrators were phenomenal and, most of all, the Milton High School students [were, too].” Of the police who were involved – including Sgt. Jack Richman, whom she said has overseen lockdown drills at all of the public schools – she added, “The security I felt … was phenomenal. On behalf of the 4,000 students of the Milton public schools, I thank them.” Gormley said parents and teachers alike have expressed satisfaction with the way things were handled during the lockdown. “I’ve got positive responses from parents,” she said. “And there was not a single incident [involving misbehavior by students] reported by a teacher. The feeling today is, ‘We have great children here.’” |
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