By Gina Martinez
Students returned to class at Forest Hills High School following a soft lockdown Thursday morning, according to the NYPD.
The school — located at 67-01 110th St. — went into the lockdown after a note was found on a desk about a student having a gun, police said.
Police received a call about the threat at 11 a.m. Thursday morning, forcing the school into the soft lockdown,
At 12:57 p.m., the 112th Precinct tweeted that the situation was under control.
“Soft lockdown at Forest Hills High School. Everything is alright, it’s just precautionary, kids and teachers all ok.”
According to police, no one was injured and the lockdown was over as of 1:30 p.m.
Police said the individual responsible for the note had been apprehended.
“Lockdown at Forest Hills High School has been terminated. Students and faculty are all ok. Individual responsible for today’s hoax is in custody,” the 112th Precinct tweeted at 1:58 p.m.
According to the NYC Department of Education, a soft lockdown implies that there is no identified imminent danger to the sweep teams.
According to the DOE website, the school puts out an announcement on the PA system at the start of soft lockdowns.
“Attention: We are now in soft lockdown. Take proper action,” is repeated twice over the PA system.
Students are trained to move out of sight and maintain silence and teachers are trained to check the hallway outside of their classrooms for students, lock classroom doors, and turn the lights off.
Students and teachers are instructed to move out of sight, maintain silence, and wait for first responders to open door or for the “All Clear” message to be announced with specific instructions. Finally, teachers take attendance and account for missing students by contacting main office.
Reach Gina Martinez by e-mail at gmart
