52°
The hand-held metal-detecting wandings will continue indefinitely at all city high schools, Paterson Schools Supt. Eileen F. Shafer announced on Monday, Dec. 19.
Additional city police officers will also patrol the grounds, she said.
“The safety of our students and staff is our top priority, and we are working to make sure that no one is able to bring an unauthorized weapon onto school property,” Shafer said.
Police responding to a first-floor hallway brawl on Friday said one of the combatants, 17, was found carrying a loaded handgun.
Two other juveniles were overheard threatening to shoot up the school, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes and Acting Paterson Police Chief Bert Ribeiro said in a joint release over the weekend.
One of them, a 15-year-old, was banging on a door of the locked-down school building, they said.
Police who converged on the area found him and an 18-year-old companion both carrying loaded guns across the street, Valdes and Ribeiro said.
Another student, 14, was issued a juvenile complaint for threatening violence against the school, they said.
SEE: Paterson School Shooting Threats: Loaded Guns Found On Three Teens, One Of Them 15
JFK had a delayed opening Monday so Shafer and Director of School Safety and Security Dalton Price could meet with staff members and hear their concerns.
“They want what our students and their parents want, and what we want – a safe high school where they can work and learn,” the superintendent said. “And we fully intend to deliver that, starting with the immediate measures that began today.”
An online meeting with JFK High School parents was scheduled for Monday evening.
“I want to reassure the teachers that reached out to me as well, that we’re taking every measure imaginable to ensure the safety of both inside this building and for the people that live in this neighborhood as well,” Mayor Andre Sayegh said.
Price, meanwhile, said security cameras were being upgraded.
“We are going to make sure that we are in constant communication to make sure that students, staff, faculty, and everyone is safe,” the security director said.
Shafer, Price and the mayor all praised construction trades teacher John Sebastian, who they said helped stop the fight and subdue a student who was carrying a loaded gun.
“Mr. Sebastian acted without hesitation to keep students and staff from getting hurt,” said Shafer. “Because of him, a bad situation was prevented from becoming a lot worse, and we are grateful to him for that.”
Sebastian, 58, who began working at the school in September, said anyone else “would have done the same thing….This could have been my kid.”
Click here to follow Daily Voice Vineland and receive free news updates.
