'Not a joke:' East Bridgewater superintendent addresses lockdown, threat at high school

• an image that was considered threatening to the school was sent over Airdrop to at least one student from another.
• The lockdown on Jan. 18 ended once the student who sent the message was found.
• East Bridgewater Police Chief Paul O’Brien said that an investigation is ongoing.

EAST BRIDGEWATER – With a small audience of community members watching tentatively from a cramped corner of the school's library, East Bridgewater Superintendent of Schools Elizabeth Legault addressed the recent threat that led to a lockdown at East Bridgewater Junior/Senior High School.

On Jan. 18, an image that was considered threatening to the school was sent over Airdrop to at least one student from another. In response, Legault contacted the East Bridgewater Police Department, placed the high school on lockdown and placed Central Elementary School and Gordon Mitchell School on soft lockdown.

"We as a district will take every threat, every picture, every phone call...that is threatening or abusive to this district as a threat," said Legault at the Jan. 24 school committee meeting. "When you threaten a school, you will be held accountable."

The lockdown, which began around noon as some students were eating lunch, ended less than two hours later, just before students were released for the day at 2 p.m., once the student who sent the message was found.

"We will do whatever we need to do to keep kids safe," said Legault at the meeting, which was Legault's first in-person public appearance following the incident. "It is not a joke."

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East Bridgewater Police Chief Paul O’Brien said that an investigation is ongoing, and no additional details are available.

As a fury of posts circulated on social media following the event, Legault mentioned in a district-wide statement that, "Although social media has created a popular culture of 'immediate gratification' streaming continuously, that expectation is simply unreasonable and potentially unsafe."

"It takes time and diligence to properly conduct an investigation, regardless of the severity. Spreading unsubstantiated hearsay on social media outlets threatens the integrity of the investigation and stokes contempt within our community."