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Email threat shuts down MHS
Threat allegedly directed at one person
A Public School System bus leaves the Marianas High School as police do a sweep inside the campus in response to an email threat. (MARK RABAGO)
An email that threatened a shooting spree at Marianas High School that sent the school and several neighboring campuses on lockdown last Friday was allegedly directed at just one person.
According to a source at the scene, a female student was escorted out of MHS before the Department of Public Safety and federal authorities inspected the campus. The threat was allegedly sent to the student directly. The police has yet to apprehend or identify any suspect.
To ensure everyone’s safety, all public and private schools located in the southern part of Saipan were placed on lockdown until police gave the “all-clear” advisory.
Schools placed on lockdown include Saipan Community School, Koblerville Elementary School, Dandan Elementary School, Mt. Carmel School, and more.
Parents were seen thronging the perimeter of the MHS campus last Friday. Some of the parents said they were informed by the school’s administration to come and pick up their child.
According to a DPS statement that was later released, DPS received a report of an email threat sent from an MHS student email account at about 12:45pm last Friday.
At approximately 1pm, federal and local agencies were dispatched to the scene and did an extensive sweep throughout the campus. This search included the students and their classrooms. After a rigorous search, no weapon was found and no suspect was apprehended.
At about 2:53pm, an “all-clear” was declared and the lockdown was lifted. Students were then released to their parents or legal guardians. Despite the “all-clear” law enforcement agencies remained at the scene to further ensure the safety of the students as they made their way away from the area.
According to a release from acting Education commissioner Kimo Rosario, when the threat was received, MHS officials immediately notified local authorities and nearby schools. All schools are immediately placed on lockdown.
“With the support of our local authorities and PSS Crisis Management Team, personnel were interviewed and classrooms and the school perimeter were searched to ensure that there were no weapons or unauthorized individuals on campus,” he said.
According to Saipan Tribune archives, the last email threat to shoot down a school was received from a student at Kagman High School. The KHS email threat was the first threat of this year.
