Lockdowns, arrests and anxiety in North Jersey schools in wake of Parkland school shooting

A threat in Dumont on Monday put one high school student in police custody, investigators seized a rifle at his home, and tactical officers armed with assault weapons and dressed in olive drab uniforms swarmed the school.

A threat to the Abundant Life Academy in Nutley resulted in the arrests of two juveniles, police announced Sunday. On Friday, officers closed the school.

On Sunday, a letter was emailed to parents in Mahwah explaining that police had seized an airsoft gun from a middle-schooler. The boy brought the toy gun that fires plastic pellets to class because he was scared of a separate threat that was made months earlier, authorities said.

Since a mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, in which 17 people were killed, tensions have been running high. And many have been cautious about threats to students and schools.

READ MORE: Dumont HS student threatened to 'shoot up the school'

READ MORE: Mahwah elementary student brought airsoft gun to school out of fear

READ MORE: Nutley police charge two with threat to Abundant Life Academy

The rash of threats and false alarms is not uncommon in the wake of a school shooting, Mahwah Police Chief James Batelli said. In fact, they're expected.

“Historically, if you look after any mass shooting, there’s a peak in not only threats, but fake calls,” Batelli said. “Threats or people calling in threats goes hand in hand with anything significant that happens.”

The threats eventually drop off, Batelli said. But for frightened parents and students, the waiting period can be filled with nerve-racking anxiety that tends to perpetuate the false alarms and panic.

"The question becomes: How do you weigh the difference between being cautious and being paranoid?" he said. "Unfortunately, those are some of the emotions going on, and it’s understandable."

In Dumont, the high school went into lockdown after a 15-year-old sophomore threatened violence on social media. Police took the student, who allegedly had a rifle at home, into custody around 1:15 p.m. Students were allowed to return to the building, but that did little to calm nerves.

One parent, the mother of a freshman student, fainted after a press conference by the superintendent and Dumont police chief.

Another, Claudia Osorio, was riddled with anxiety as she waited on the front lawn of a New Milford Avenue home for her 15-year-old son, Lorenzo, to emerge from Dumont High School.

“It’s an epidemic,” Osorio said, clutching her younger son, Emilio, 10, closer to her side. “The more it's talked about, the more it spreads. But we can't underestimate this type of threat."

Threats have abounded in North Jersey since the Florida shooting.

On Saturday, police confiscated an airsoft gun from an elementary school student who brought it to class on Friday out of fear over an alleged shooting threat.

The student had no intention of causing harm, but was scared by a threat from a Ramapo Ridge Middle School student last fall to allegedly "shoot up" the middle school on Friday, Lauren Schoen, the district’s superintendent, said in an email to parents Sunday night.

Police dismissed the threat after an investigation in the fall, but school officials heightened security at district schools on Friday as a precaution, stationing multiple police officers and patrol cars on each campus.

A parent notified the staff at Joyce Kilmer elementary that a student had packed an airsoft gun in his backpack and shown his friends while riding on the bus to school.

“We are proud of the student who came forward and truly appreciate the parent who alerted the proper authorities." Schoen told parents. "Please talk with your child about the importance of 'See Something, Say Something.' ”

Panic over the threat, though dismissed, prompted several parents to keep their children home from school on Friday. The student who made the alleged threat was removed from school for unrelated reasons, the district said.

And in Nutley, two juveniles have been charged with third-degree false public alarm after allegedly threatening Abundant Life Academy, a private pre-K-to-12th-grade school.

The threat preceded the Florida shooting and prompted the closing of Abundant Life on Friday as a precaution.

The two juveniles, a former student and a current student at the school, cooperated with police and were released to their parents.

A Nutley High School student is also facing false public alarm charges after allegedly posting a video on Instagram depicting gun violence earlier this month. The alleged threat caused the school to shut down on Feb. 16 and sparked a debate over placing armed guards in the district's buildings.

Staff Writers Owen Proctor and Keldy Ortiz contributed to this article.

Email: shkolnikova@northjersey.com