SALEM — Collins Middle School was under heightened police supervision Friday after an anonymous caller threatened to stage a shooting at the school.
Police said the caller also made false reports of shots fired, used profanity, and repeatedly hung up the phone. Salem Police Chief Lucas Miller said that the call was made from a deactivated cell phone that still had the capability of dialing 9-1-1.
Even though police said the threat was not credible, Salem Police will, out of an abundance of caution, heighten their security services at the middle school and across all Salem schools.
“The department assesses the threat as not credible, but out of an abundance of caution, and due in part to our ongoing concern for our schools, we have assigned a police presence throughout the day to Collins and further increased our coverage of all schools in Salem,” Salem Police wrote in a statement Friday.
Police are currently investigating the calls’ source, and Miller said that even though the threats, at this time, do not appear credible, the situation is not one to take lightly.
“We don’t take announcing something like this lightly because it upsets people tremendously, and understandably so. The whole thing is regrettable, but we’re still vigorously investigating to figure out who did it,” Miller said. “The Salem Police Department views threats to the safety of our children as our highest priority,” police wrote.
Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at [email protected].
