An active shooter was reported at St. John’s Monday, but the school later said that the report was really a “swatting” incident and that everyone was safe. Adding to the scare, a police officer’s gun accidentally went off during the search, leading to even more of an emergency response.
Classes have been called off Tuesday at St. John's Prep in Danvers, Massachusetts, following a frightening ordeal at the all-boys Catholic middle and high school on Monday.
An active shooter was reported at St. John's Monday, but the school later said that the report was really a "swatting" incident and that everyone was safe. Adding to the scare, a police officer's gun accidentally went off during the search, leading to even more of an emergency response.
No one was hurt during the situation Monday. The headmaster at the school says counseling will be made available to all students and staff following the hoax shooter call.
And all classes at St. John's are scheduled to resume Wednesday, but with a police presence, counselors and comfort dogs on campus.
"As a values-rich and faith-based institution, our school turns to our faith and to prayer in times of trouble and grief as we seek to console and support each other as a community as well as all those impacted by Monday’s events," read a statement from St. John's Tuesday that thanked all those involved in dealing with the "swatting" threat and subsequent scare.
The school was placed in lockdown as police cleared the classrooms on Monday, with some students fleeing on their own.
“This is everybody’s nightmare, and every parent, given the context of our culture today, is concerned that things like this can happen," St. John's Prep Headmaster Ed Hardiman said.
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The students were eventually brought to a tent that had just been used for commencement to be reunited with their parents.
But it was a chaotic and at times terrifying experience for both students and parents, as the veracity of the threat was sorted out.
“An alarm went off, like this lady frantically saying there was an active shooter, so our teacher went out trying to see what was happening, and we barricaded the door and then a police officer he kind of like broke the door in and told us just to run so I made sure I was with my brother and we just ran down the street into the woods," ninth grader Jack McIntosh recalled.
The term swatting refers to a hoax call to police when there is really no danger. There's been many of these calls recently across the state and country.
