For Immediate Release

Thursday, May 4, 2017

Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 781-533-9398
Email: john@jgpr.net

Stoneham High School Briefly Shelters in Place After Student Calls 911

No Danger Found — School Day Resumed Normally with Minimal Disruption

STONEHAM — Police Chief James McIntyre and Superintendent of Schools Dr. Les Olson report that Stoneham High School was briefly placed on lockdown mode after a student dialed 911 and told police that she could hear someone screaming.

On Thursday, May 4, at 10:25 a.m., the Stoneham Police Department received a 911 call from a female student at Stoneham High School saying that she was hearing screams coming from an area near the gymnasium. She told police that she was hiding and said “there is a shooting going on in the school.”

Police units were immediately dispatched to the school. Upon arrival, officers and administrators checked the area described by the student, but could not find anything out of the ordinary. Police also could not find the student who called 911.

Out of an abundance of caution, the school was ordered to shelter in place.

Police conducted a thorough search of the building, but nothing was found.

Officers found the student who made the initial phone call a short distance from high school. The student was clearly frightened after hearing the screaming and fled the school.

The Stoneham Police Department determined that no emergency situation existed, and the shelter in place order was lifted at 11:07 a.m.

“A student heard something concerning to her and did the right thing by dialing 911. There was no danger,” Chief McIntyre said. “The Stoneham Police Department and Stoneham Public Schools have an extremely close working relationship, which enables seamless and immediate communication between our two organizations, and we were able to quickly determine that the students, faculty and staff were safe.”

Police and school administrators have not determined the source of the concern, but believe that students may have been yelling, though not in danger, in or near the gymnasium.

“I am grateful to the Stoneham Police Department for their rapid response today and in quickly deescalating the situation once the all-clear was given,” Superintendent Olson said. “The student in question dialed 911 when she heard something out of the ordinary, which is the right thing to do. What is most important is that, thankfully, there was no danger, and no one was harmed.”

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