Girl, 15, charged in shooting threat
N.B. parents critical of authorities' handling of school lockdown
BY JENNIFER AMATO
Staff Writer

A 15-year-old township resident was arrested for leaving a phone message that sparked a lockdown at North Brunswick Township High School on April 18.

The female, who police will not confirm or deny is a student, was arrested at 1 a.m. on April 19 and charged with creating a false public alarm, making terroristic threats and creating a widespread risk of injury.

Around 9 p.m. on April 18 a voice message was left on a machine in the principal's office saying someone was upset with their girlfriend and that they were going to "shoot up" the school. The message was not retrieved until around 6:45 a.m.

"It was what we would deem a disguised voice, someone talking lower or trying to cover their voice," Police Director Kenneth McCormick said about the message, which was originally believed to be left by a male.

Police were able to identify the particular phone that was the source of the threat, which was on the suspect as she was arrested, according to McCormick. He said there were no weapons found on the person at the time of the arrest, which occurred at her home.

The girl and her mother were brought to headquarters and questioned, but no charges were being brought against the mother, according to authorities.

The teenager is being held at the Middlesex County Youth Detention Center, North Brunswick, as of Wednesday, according to Assistant Middlesex County Prosecutor Ralph Cretella. A court appearance is scheduled for May 9. The suspect could face up to six years if convicted of the charges.

The ongoing investigation is being handled by Lt. James Curry, Detective Seeta Jones, Detective Michael Campbell and Investigator Jeffrey Maroccia of the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office.

"One thing we've always been very proud of in North Brunswick and we are especially proud of today is the professionalism of our Police Department and their ability to get things done," Mayor Francis "Mac" Womack said at an April 19 press conference.

However, many parents were upset with the decision to lock down 1,800 students in the high school for 3 1/2 hours last week. The township, school board and Police Department held a debriefing meeting on April 19 to discuss the situation and the decisions made throughout the incident.

McCormick said that since the Columbine High School shooting in 1999, the police department trains for active shooter response scenarios. The students were brought to their homerooms, where they awaited a search by police. The prosecutor's K-9 unit and surrounding departments responded to assist with the searches, totaling over 30 officers and 180 school officials.

"In this particular situation, we had children who had arrived at school, people already in the facility and buses arriving," McCormick said. "We used police protocol and a decision was made."

Also, a new camera system that was recently installed allowed police officers to monitor various locations in the school from the department.

"I was convinced, with the police, that the building was the safest place to put the students," Principal Salvatore Mistretta said. "In the big picture of 1,800 kids, 180 staff members and the community as a whole … this was the most logical, educated decision to protect your children, which in reality are my children, too."

Although Mistretta said the decision was made to keep students from milling around outside or on buses as possible targets, parents questioned whether exposing a large number of children to a possible gunman was the wisest choice and inquired why incoming vehicles were not sent home and why parents were not alerted prior and allowed to keep their children home. They also accused Board of Education members of having privileged information and having the discretion of keeping their children and their friends' children home from school.

Parents complained about a severe lack of communication evident throughout the day. Some claimed they were in the high school parking lot for hours, and told to head to the board offices only to be told there was little information available. Parents said that local media outlets should have been alerted immediately with proper details so that parents were not waiting frantically for hours or given false information, and that the school district e-mail system should have operated as soon as the incident happened.

"North Brunswick, you need to open up and use your resources around here. … I think we're acting in a vacuum," one upset mother said during the meeting.

As a result, township officials agreed that measures need to be taken to avoid such a chaotic reaction, such as purchasing software that can make 500 calls in 15 to 20 minutes and finding ways to make students aware of the situation without causing a panic. Although metal detectors were mentioned, the community is worried the reputation of the district will be in danger because of a sense of an impending lack of security.

Improvements need to be made on the proper lockdown procedure as well. Several students said they were either not individually searched or that their classroom was completely avoided.

"These situations need to be 100 percent, not 99 percent," Womack said.

Overall, Lt. Joseph Battaglia, the incident commander on scene, said that "every teacher as well as every student in the classrooms were searched." There was no bomb threat called in and after an extensive search, not even a knife was found.

"We can't let what people who have ill will toward us, we can't let them rule our lives," Womack said.