The latest school to be victimized by a hoax threat is Hialeah Senior High School.
The school was placed on a code red lockdown around 11 a.m. Monday. Miami-Dade Schools Police Chief Ivan Silva said they received a threat that there were bombs inside the school and that there was an armed person on campus.
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That led to a familiar scene, of anxious parents waiting outside, helicopters overhead, dozens of police officers searching the building, and of course, students were inside thinking the worst-case scenario could be happening at their school.
“I was terrified, I was really scared, I was really, really scared,” said senior Brenda Mirabet after she left school. “I’m so happy to be with my family right now.”
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While the lockdown was going on, hundreds of parents and guardians gathered outside, waiting for information. Bryan Blanco was getting text messages from his nephew, a freshman.
“He’s super scared, they were all in one angle of the class, the teacher said don’t move, don’t do anything, so I was very worried, I thought it was a real situation,” Blanco said.
“Then they told us to close off the doors, shut out the lights,” said Ady Ruiz-Devilla, a senior. “It was very scary.”
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She was among the students who left early after police cleared the school. I asked her what she thought of people who make prank threats against schools.
“I think that a person like that should be in just as much trouble as a person who meant it because that creates a lot of fear and is something very stupid to do,” Rruiz-Devilla said.
Miami-Dade Schools Police Chief Ivan Silva told us if they catch the person who made the threat against Hialeah High, they will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law.
“They’re not harmless pranks, these are real crimes that have real consequences, these calls, they disrupt our learning environment, they disrupt everything at the school and they exhaust resources, unnecessary, for no reason when they can be used somewhere else if needed,” Chief Silva said.
It’s a felony, adults can get five years in prison for making false threats against a school. Kids making threats online or on the phone will also be prosecuted and also, they get kicked out of school. In the Hialeah case, police are still investigating and do not yet have anyone in custody.
