By DENISE MAYCOCK
Tribune Freeport Reporter
dmaycock@tribunemedia.net
A STUDENT was charged in a Freeport Magistrate’s Court yesterday in connection with threats against Bishop Michael Eldon School.
The boy, who was accompanied by his guardians, was charged with possession of a firearm with intent to put another in fear and threats of death by writing.
On Thursday, March 2, police received a report about graffiti death threats that were found on the inside of a male bathroom at the school. Police said there was a threat made to shoot up the school.
Officers from the Central Division and the Criminal Investigation Department conducted an investigation that led to the arrest of a boy and the recovery of two imitation firearms.
The charges were read over to the accused boy and he was not allowed to enter a plea. He was remanded to Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre Adolescent Section for six weeks.
The matter was adjourned to April 13 before the juvenile panel.
According to police, during the course of the investigation three boys were initially questioned, but two were later released.
When police arrived at the school last week, the principal directed them to a bathroom where there was graffiti written on the wall that read: “I will shoot up the school on the 3 of March.”
Supt Darold Weir, officer in charge of the Criminal Investigation Department in Freeport, said police took the threat seriously.
“We take this seriously even though it was an isolated situation, and we wish not for it to happen again. We continue to do our best to keep our schools as safe as possible,” Supt Weir said yesterday.
He explained that officers made a check of the school campus but found nothing on March 2 or March 3.
On Friday, Supt Alvarado Dames, officer in charge of the Central Division, led a team of officers at the BMES where a search was conducted of faculty and students entering the school. There was also a talk about conflict resolution and the consequences of crime.
Supt Weir said following their investigations police were able to recover two imitation firearms, which were not found at the school campus.
“They are fake guns, but as the law prescribes, as long as they are used in the commission of an offence, it is treated as if it is a real gun or firearm,” he explained.
The senior police official urged parents to know what is happening in their children’s personal life.
“Know what they are dealing with and who their friends are, and what they are into,” he said.
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