Lockdown Lifted For Broward Schools
The lockdown for all Broward County public and charter schools has been lifted as of 1:45 p.m. Students will be dismissed at their normal times Wednesday afternoon and parents can pick the students up at that time.
But, after school activities and other school related functions will be impacted by Wednesday's threat.
"All after school activities have been canceled, including athletic activities and all adult vocation and educational program have been canceled," Broward County Superintendent Jim Notter said. "After care programs will dismiss at the usual time, however parents and their guardians will need to sign their child out."
The lockdown started said early Wednesday morning when police said they received an unspecified threat after a woman called a radio station to say her husband was "going to respond to a school in Pembroke Pines and start shooting."
Click Here to watch David Sutta's report on the radio station threat.
Notter described the threat as credible, and a lockdown was ordered for all Broward schools as a precaution. Students were brought in from all outdoor activities and gates to seal off entrances to the schools were closed and locked.
McArthur High School, which is on the border of Pembroke Pines, was also placed on lockdown, according to Nadine Drew with the county's school district.
In addition to the unspecified threat, Pembroke Pines police said an email was also sent stating that "something big was going to happen" around government buildings in Broward County.
"One never overreacts when the safety of our children and our employees are at stake," Notter said, responding to any possible criticism of the lockdown. "It clearly was not an over-reaction."
Notter's sentiment was echoed by Pembroke Pines Police Captain Dan Rakofsky.
"We believe that any threat that has this level of information it needs to be taken seriously, that the safety and security of the schools in Pembroke Pines and Broward County are of the utmost concern of the law enforcement agencies," Rakofsky said.
Rakofsky said that the investigation will continue and that there will be an enhanced police presence around all Broward County schools.
"Investigating this, we've detained and spoken with several individuals, who've all been eliminated as suspects, and our investigation is ongoing," Rakofsky said.
