One person is in police custody after a possible social media threat sent Benjamin Cardozo High School into a “soft lockdown.”
According to police, at 2:13 p.m. on March 15, officers from the 111th Precinct received a 911 call regarding the situation. Police arrived at the scene and began to look for a suspect that was possibly armed.
As of 2:31 p.m., a suspect was apprehended and placed under arrest. The suspect, a minor who police say was wanted for another assault, has not been identified due to his age, however police confirmed that the suspect is a male student at the school.
Social media reports indicate that the school went on lockdown after a picture of a gun was posted on social media by a student and his friends and that another student was caught with a BB gun in his bag. However, the NYPD could not confirm these details at this time.
Cardozo High School acknowledged the incident in a statement on its website: “Our school is currently in a soft lock down (sic). All students are under staff supervision and safe in their assigned locations. I will update this news when the lock down is lifted and our normal bell schedule resumes.”
According to Department of Education (DOE) guidelines, a soft lockdown is initiated for an incident in which there is no known immediate danger to administrators, School Safety agents and police officers instructed to sweep the school.
“A serious allegation was immediately reported to the NYPD, who conducted a thorough search and swiftly recovered a B.B. gun. All students and staff are safe, and the lockdown was lifted,” said a DOE representative.
Last December, Cardozo went into a full lockdown after a student slashed another in a stairwell, prompting a large police response.
