DERRY - A threatening note found at Pinkerton Academy sent Derry schools into emergency mode yesterday, with students locked in buildings for more than two hours as a safety precaution.
While police were busy investigating the threat, four fires were deliberately set in Pinkerton bathrooms.
Police responded to Pinkerton at 9:10 a.m. after a staff member found a note outside in the center of the campus that said a violent crime was going to take place at school that day. The threat led police to advise all seven public schools in the district to put lock-ins in place, meaning students were not allowed outside for recess or gym.
Derry police Capt. Vernon Thomas said police didn't know with certainty that the threat was related to Pinkerton and put lock-ins in place across the Derry Cooperative School District as a precaution.
"We didn't really known whom it was addressing," Thomas said of the note.
There was no lock-in at Pinkerton, however. Pinkerton Academy is not part of the Derry Cooperative School District, and therefore is not required to put the same measures in place as the other schools.
Police wouldn't release the contents of the threatening note yesterday, saying it is part of the investigation. They also refused to provide details about what the violent crime was.
Half an hour after police arrived to investigate the threat, a fire was reported in the boys' bathroom of Pinkerton's vocational building. Toilet tissue had been ignited in a trash barrel, police said. Three more fires were set nearly simultaneously at 12:15 p.m. in the science building. Two were in the boys' restroom and one was in the girls' restroom next door. All of the fires involved toilet paper ignited inside the trash barrel.
Thomas said it is unknown at this time whether the fires were related to the threat.
No one has been arrested in connection with either the threat or the arsons. Thomas said police have spoken to several students.
The lock-ins were called off at 11:55 a.m., and school resumed as normal.
In the afternoon, Pinkerton Academy Headmaster Mary Anderson notified parents of all 3,200 students about the threat using a new phone system that enables her to contact all the parents at once.
But at 11:30 a.m., students walking from Pinkerton to the student parking lot said they didn't really know what was going on. They said they were told they were on heightened alert and had seen the police officers walking around their school.
"(Administrators) won't say anything," said Jamie Santuccio, 17, a senior at Pinkerton Academy. "There's a lot of police around, and they said we're on heightened alert."
Her friend, Kiley White, 18, also a senior, said they were told the other schools were on lock-in, "but we're not."
Other students said they weren't alarmed at the added security, but were frustrated that administrators wouldn't tell them what was happening.
"It's frustrating," said Tim Stone, 17, of Derry. "We should be more informed because they haven't said anything to us. We don't even really know what's going on."
"I got really scared at first because I had no idea what was going on," echoed Kevin Reid, 18, of Derry.
All schools were dismissed at regular times yesterday afternoon. Police are continuing their investigation.
Correspondent Anna DiLorenzo contributed to this story
