By Andrew Coen
Police investigators later determined that the message came from outside the area, according to Detective Lt. Kevin Smith, a Nassau County Police spokesman. We have computer crime detectives who have investigated the source of the instant message and have determined that it came from outside the New York City region, said Smith.
According to Hewlett-Woodmere Schools Superintendent Dr. Charles Fowler, the source of the threats likely found the 10 students by searching America Online profiles.
The message spoke about violence taking place at the school and also had a link to depressing poetry and readings relating to death, according to Smith. The message was anonymous and said there would be a shooting at your school, officials said.
The mother of one of the students who received the instant message reported it to police on Tuesday evening, according to Smith. The following morning, police alerted school officials. It was sent to several students, and none of them knew the source, said Smith.
After meeting with police on Wednesday morning, school officials decided to impose the lockdown, with no one authorized to enter or leave the building during school hours.
Police patrolled the grounds throughout the day on Nov. 12. According to Smith, during the lockdown many students called their parents to ask them to pick them up at school, which caused the police to send in more officers. At that point we had to add more police cars to set [the parents] at ease and to address the situation, said Smith.
Detectives launched an investigation, which is still ongoing. We're trying to find out the source of the instant message, which is a painstaking process, but hopefully we will find out who it is, said Smith.
During the lockdown, students were not allowed to leave campus for free periods or lunch on the normally open campus while officers patrolled the school and the area intermittently throughout the day.
The professional staff was very, very cooperative and did what they had to do, said Hewlett High School Principal Joyce Bisso.
I think, given our lack of familiarity with this kind of situation, it went as well as could be expected, said Fowler. This is part of a new life that we have to deal with in this electronic age.
Students voiced mixed reactions to the lockdown. Some Hewlett students said that they overreacted, but I think they did OK, said junior Alisha Patrick. I'd rather be able to go home to my mom then have one leg cut off or something.
Patrick said that even though classes were still in session, it was hardly business as usual. In one of my classes there were only five students, she said.
Many students felt the situation was handled properly. It's a joke, but it's better that they take precautions, said junior Joseph Lustberg.
Two male exchange students from Florence, Italy, who wanted to remain anonymous, were in their last full day in the U.S. after three weeks when the lockdown occurred. A lot of people were worried, but the teachers seemed more scared than the students, said one of them.
They handled it very well in taking precautions, said senior Jerome Roberts.
Many students did not take the situation too seriously, according to senior Mike Fischer. Most of the kids thought it was a joke, he said.
Junior Mike Avital felt the lockdown was an overreaction, since many students left school for the day. There is no point [to] this, said Avital. It's just a joke that some stupid kids made and we missed a day of school because of it.
School Board member Marcy Goldberg, who was one of the many parents to pick their children up at the high school, felt the situation was handled appropriately. I think it was handled about as good as it can be considering the situation, she said. My kids weren't alarmed in any way.
During the regularly scheduled Nov. 12 school board meeting, Central Council PTA co-presidents Diane Hochman and Stephanie Price expressed concern over the parents' picking up their children. We were happy the way the situation was handled, but our major concern is with parents picking up their children at school during the lockdown, said Hochman. Our view is that in a lockdown, students should stay in the school.
Fowler also addressed the lockdown at the meeting. After meeting with the police, we agreed that it was better to have a lockdown, to have tighter security over entering and leaving the building, said Fowler.
I think it was handled very well and responsibly, said school board President Richard Braverman. You have to take something like this seriously in this day and age.
According to Fowler, a letter will be sent out to all high-school parents explaining the variety of security procedures already in place.
