Given the heightened state of awareness since the Newtown, Connecticut, shootings, the last thing any school district needs is people with weapons spotted in the vicinity of a school. Yet that’s exactly what Plainsboro police confronted on Tuesday, February 5, at around 1 p.m. The resulting school lockdowns — implemented without advance planning or warning — turned the day into one of worry, confusion, and ultimately a learning experience for WW-P parents, students, school staff, and the police.
When news started spreading that the schools were going into an unplanned lockdown based on sightings of potentially dangerous individuals nearby, the rumor mill ran far apace of the actual messages sent out by the school district and the police departments of West Windsor and Plainsboro. The suspicious individuals were variously one or two people; two men or a man and a woman; both carrying rifles, or only one carrying what appeared to be a rifle; identified as duck hunters, with duck calls being heard; or not hunters at all.
The district and the police departments sent out Twitter and E-mail messages in an attempt to keep parents and students informed. The original message from the district indicated that several schools were placed in lockdown “due to an external threat,” and advised parents not to go to the schools. Messages from the West Windsor police department indicated that the individuals were likely duck hunters, although the Plainsboro police later stated that this was not confirmed.
Lt. Robert Garofalo of West Windsor explained that confusion. “I was probably the one responsible for telling residents that the individuals might be duck hunters. Some of the officers heard possible duck hunters in the woods, and I wanted to give people as much information as possible to avoid hysteria. The District’s initial messages were vague. An ‘external threat’ can be anything from a possible hunter to a shooter to a bomb, and I thought that wording might make parents panic. Since it appeared from the reports that I was getting that the individuals were likely duck hunters, I wanted to put that out there to calm people down, so that they didn’t think the worst.”
Lt. Joseph Duffy of the Plainsboro Police Department sent out a press release later that day, which helped dispel much of the incorrect information. During a follow-up interview, he provided more details.
“On Tuesday, February 5, at 1:05 p.m. the Plainsboro police department received calls from two different motorists. The first motorist was on Maple Avenue, and reported seeing two people, one of whom might have been carrying a weapon, walking away from the schools. A second motorist on Grover’s Mill Road also reported seeing such individuals. No law enforcement officers ever saw anyone fitting the description or anyone suspicious at all, on either the roadways or the waterways, and reports that the individuals were confirmed to be duck hunters are false.”
Duffy continued, “Due to the proximity of these individuals to area schools, we erred on the side of caution, and within minutes had both utilized the national incident command system and set up a command post. Chief Guy Armour, myself, and other senior officers were there, along with [Deputy Superintendent] David Aderhold. We immediately set up a safety perimeter and contacted West Windsor police. It was decided by the police department to place High School North, Community Middle School, Millstone River School, the Montessori School, and Wyckoff School on lockdown for precautionary reasons. Officers were posted at all schools. The district also placed High School South in lockdown as a precaution.
“Town Center, which was further away from the area, was not placed in lockdown, nor were the other West Windsor schools. However, police officers were dispatched to all of the schools as a precaution.”
To further complicate the day Grover Middle School had to be evacuated during this time because of smoke and an unpleasant odor caused by the installation of a new furnace. The staff and students went to Village School across the street. “This had nothing to do with the lockdown,” Duffy said.
Duffy noted that the response to the sighting of people with weapons was different from the typical school lockdown drills, “because in those scenarios, the potential shooter is either inside the school or on the school grounds. These individuals were quite a distance away from any schools, so our operation was more of a search or a manhunt. Because of this, we utilized the New Jersey State Police Aviation Unit, Plainsboro Fire Department Marine Unit, and West Windsor Police K-9 unit. We have these at our disposal and decided to use them as a precaution.”
Only High School South was brought out of lockdown before school dismissal, although police remained at all district schools throughout dismissal. Duffy explained that, “because we hadn’t found the individuals, we did not bring the Plainsboro schools out of lockdown. To ensure students’ safety, we conducted a ‘controlled release’ of the schools. Police officers handled dismissal, one school at a time. We then continued the search for the individuals for a while longer, until we concluded that they were no longer in the area.”
For all parties the false alarm, while a major nuisance, was also seen as an opportunity to evaluate procedures. “In today’s post-Newtown environment, it is incumbent upon school districts to take all threats seriously,” the WW-P district said in a release. “Working with our partners, the Plainsboro Police and the West Windsor Police, WW-P followed the approved crisis management plan. We will continue to debrief the response to the lockdown to continually improve our reactions to such potential threats.”
Duffy of Plainsboro was pleased with how the police, the school staff, and the students handled the unplanned lockdown. “The school staff and the students were great. The Plainsboro PD was flooded with calls, E-mails, and texts afterwards, all praising how the lockdown was handled and the efforts of the police in keeping the schools safe. And the staff was great — people followed their training and did exactly what they were supposed to do.
“It all hinges on the teachers. Their level of leadership and how they react dictates how the kids will behave, and they set a great example. This shows that all of our training with the schools is really paying off.”
Added Garofalo: “The West Windsor police were there to assist and help out the Plainsboro police. We sent officers to all of the West Windsor schools as a precaution, and had officers posted in the High School South parking lots and at every crosswalk near the school, as a precaution. The Plainsboro police, our officers, the school staff — everything was done perfectly, according to our training.”
Duffy acknowledged that, in hindsight, “there is one thing that we could have done differently. During dismissal we should have allowed the kids who were being picked up by parents to go first, rather than the buses, because the cars tended to block the buses in and caused some delays. But people were patient, because they understood that safety comes before convenience. As these things go, it was a positive event because of everyone’s cooperation.”
Many students agreed, and one South student wrote a letter to the editor praising the handling of the situation (see page 2). Other South students, who did not want to be named, were less positive, and offered some constructive criticism. “For one thing, the lockdown announcement came during the time between classes, so that everyone was in the hallways and we couldn’t hear the announcements. Teachers were screaming as well, and many were saying that they didn’t know what to do.
“Most of us not in classrooms were finally brought to the gym, but the doors don’t lock, and no one was quiet. Disruptive students were brought out into the hallways during the lockdown, and one class actually took a test, with all of the classroom lights on. Kids were locked out of classrooms and had to hide in the bathrooms, but the doors don’t lock. Many people did not take it seriously. This all needs to be addressed before the next situation.”
Duffy did have one complaint. “The individuals were never found. I was hoping that they would have called in to the station to identify themselves and explain what had happened, and to maybe say ‘I’m sorry.’ But no one has called in, so we still don’t know who they are.”
