Police kept a close eye on Ricardo Richards Elementary School Wednesday after receiving a 911 phone call threatening to harm the students Tuesday night.
After school programs were canceled and parents were told to have their children picked up by 2:45 p.m., according to the Department of Education. But other than that, classes went off without a hitch, albeit with a high police presence, DOE Public Relations Director Ananta Pancham said.
Asked how specific the threat was, both Pancham and the V.I. Police Department said the caller had threatened to harm children at the school, but had not said how that would be done.
Pancham said her first notice of the situation was at about 10 p.m. Tuesday.
School and police officials consulted throughout the early morning, and at 6 a.m. Wednesday more than a dozen officers and dogs responded to the scene. They searched the school for any suspicious items, activity or signs of danger.
Police spokeswoman Melody Rames said Wednesday that the school was deemed safe before any students were let in.
The police also set up a surveillance vehicle, wired with pan and zoom camera, outside to monitor everyone going in and out of the campus throughout the day.
School Security Bureau officers will continue to be posted at the school until a final assessment is made, Rames added.
Pancham said that despite the threat, it was a quiet school day. She spoke to the principal who said everything was calm. "There has been no trouble," she said.
St. Croix District Superintendent Gary Molloy joined the police at Ricardo Richards early Wednesday and spoke to the school’s staff and to about 40 concerned parents.
Molloy said that officials were confident that the school was secure before any decision was made to let students in.
