On Monday Greenwich Police Special Victims Section arrested a juvenile student for Threatening 1st degree and Breach of Peace 2nd degree. Police say the arrest was the conclusion of an investigation into the threatening message written on a bathroom stall at Greenwich High School last March 29, 2017.
Sal Corda,who was interim superintendent at the time of the incident, said in a statement that the threat was written on a bathroom wall that had specificity with regard to time and place, which necessitated swift action.
As a result of that message, the entire school population of roughly 3,000 students, staff and teachers were locked down from about 12:30pm until just shy of 4:00pm.
During that time about 40 Greenwich Police officers secured the high school and searched every student, backpack and room for weapons or other threats.
Once the school was determined to be safe,the students were dismissed.
After the lockdown ended, Greenwich Police Captain Kraig Gray gave a de-brief to media in which he said, “We had a threat specific to time and place on a girls bathroom stall. The threat was transmitted through graffiti.” He said the graffiti message had been brought to the attention of security staff and School Resource Officer Carlos Franco was consulted.
On March 30 police asked any student with information on the threat to use the GHS Anonymous Alert system, which enables them to submit information online about suspicious activity, bullying or other student related issues anonymously.
The Special Victims Section conducted the investigation and developed a suspect. As a result of the investigation, probably cause was established to apply for a juvenile arrest warrant. the warrant was reviewed by the juvenile prosecutor and presented to a Superior Court Judge who signed it.
This was the first of two high school threats made last year. The second was an adult suspect who had attempted to frame a student relative at Greenwich High School by passing a threatening note to a student. That investigation also resulted in an arrest.
“The safety of our children, our most vulnerable population is a paramount mission of the Greenwich Police Dept,” said Det. Sgt. Brent Reeves of the special Victims Section. “When these types of incidents occur, the full weight of the Greenwich Police Department is put behind the investigation.”
see also:
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