South San Francisco, CA February 17, 2016 From our Facebook Page
Police lockdown at Monte Verde Elementary. Per San Bruno Police Sargent, the suspect was reported threatening two students with a knife. No further information was given pending investigation.” Luke Ari
As an information sharing resource, EverythingSouthCity.com is sharing some of the conversation that took place on our FB page today after we were alerted to the lock down at Monte Verde Elementary School in San Bruno,(it is part of SSFUSD) due to a man threatening students on campus, unknown if suspect was arrested. Please note we are awaiting an official announcement on the situation and we will update when we have more information. It should also be noticed this is a Police investigation and our School District has limited information and can only put out info they receive.
Luke Ari was the first to respond with information to the mutual requests we had asking what was happening at Monte Verde. “Police lockdown at Monte Verde Elementary. Per San Bruno Police Sargent, the suspect was reported threatening two students with a knife. No further information was given pending investigation.” He updated a bit later “SSF school district FAILED to notify parents/guardians of the event. 2+ hours after the incident and still NO phone call/text/e-mail from the district!!!:
Eva Chavez reported the lockdown started around 1:30pm. “I was told by my mother in law it was a man chasing two students from a bathroom and my nephews were just released. There’ve been in lockdown since 1:30 wish”
Juliana S. updated us around 3:30pm “All the kids are safe and have been released to their families.
The SSFUSD had this on their website, however many parents were upset there was no phone calls made to them as we can see below:
Community Alert Update
February 17, 2016, 2:15pmMonte Verde Elementary School is currently on safety lockdown with San Bruno Police (SBPD), assisted by South San Francisco Police (SSFPD) clearing the campus. The police are currently investigating a report that an unidentified man was seen on campus and that the man attempted to chase after two students exiting a restroom.
All children and staff on the campus are safe and unharmed. SBPD will notify school officials when the lockdown has been lifted and the all clear is announced.
This message will be updated as additional information is received.
UPDATE 2:40pm
San Bruno Police have lifted the Monte Verde campus lockdown, and the campus has been given an all-clear announcement. Students are currently being released to their parents/guardians.Questions pertaining to this incident may be directed to the San Bruno Police Department (650) 616-7100.
Martina Goodman wrote “I am glad everyone is safe but it would have been better if they actually called parents, to let them know what was going on. Very poor communication… I feel like this is something that needs to be addressed because I still haven’t received a call or an email explaining what happened. I also feel like they should have had a designated office person start calling parents as soon as the school was on lock-down. They need better procedures.”
The following responses were made to Goodman’s post;
Theresa Orndorff -I agree. It was very unsettling.
Kristine Hashimoto– Seriously! I called the school, school district, nobody knew anything, we had to call the police dept. later on the school district said they arent allowed to give any info until told to do so. i’m still waiting for that voice recording of what happened
Angelina C Suarez -1000% percent agreed!!!!! I never would have left my daughters at school for 2 hours after this happen…. I have yet to hear anything from school… After school care called me to pick up my girls….. They need to have a better plan in place And then I see the district website posted a statement about it at 2:15… And still have yet to hear anything
Karen Johanson Just went to a safety training at San Mateo County Office of Education yesterday! “It would never happen here” just isn’t real anymore. Kudos to the school and police personnel for protecting our students!
Margaret De La Cruz I was there and I must say the police and Ms. Mirt handled this very calmly and organized. Of course it was terrifying.
Theresa Orndorff I agree. And all our fellow parents were very calm and orderly.
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Everything South City will update as more information becomes available.