Only six kids showed up Tuesday in one of Eric Demnitz’s classes; everyone else stayed home because of a bomb threat at Morristown High School.
“I wasn’t nervous or scared,” Eric said.
Of course, he acknowledged, his dad is the police chief.
Morristown Police Chief Pete Demnitz said parents should not feel nervous or scared, either, despite a scrawled bathroom threat of a Tuesday bombing and a morning evacuation for what proved to be an unattended lunch box.
“They should feel very comfortable sending their kids to school,” the Chief said. “It’s probably the safest place to be right now.”
That’s because bomb-sniffing dogs, police from three towns, and the Morris County Prosecutor’s and Sheriff’s offices have been through the building. Student bags and backpacks were searched, and most after-school events have been canceled for the rest of the week.
Princeton University also was evacuated on Tuesday morning because of bomb threats, which have become an increasingly vexing problem for schools across the state. Morristown school officials say they will re-examine their security measures.
Maria Silva had no qualms about sending her daughter Thais to Morristown High on Tuesday. Police were there, she reasoned.
The decision didn’t go over so well with Thais, who liked the idea of a day off, according to her mom.
“She was a little bit mad at me,” said Maria, as her pet Maltese, Spot, kept a watchful eye for Thais to emerge from school on Tuesday afternoon.
