Police are questioning four New Britain High School students and the school dismissed early Thursday amid an investigation into rumors of violence planned at the school today and reports that a student claimed to have brought a weapon to school in case anything happened.
Supt. Nancy Sarra released a statement Thursday morning that said school officials learned Wednesday of a rumor that an act of violence was being planned for today at New Britain High School and school administrators notified New Britain police, who started investigating immediately.
They spoke with students and staff and learned that a student made “an offhand remark” in a classroom and students who overheard it shared it with others, according to the superintendent.
Police and school officials didn’t find the rumor to be credible, but they took the report seriously and called for extra police presence at the school throughout the day today and beyond, Sarra said in a statement about the incident.
New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart said Thursday that three students at the high school heard another student in a bathroom say something to the effect that he or she brought a weapon to school “in case anything happens and I can protect myself.”
The mayor said no weapons have been found.
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Police are speaking with the four students.
Parents said they received calls from their nervous children this morning and didn’t hear from the school. Police at the scene said they spoke to parents who arrived at the school to tell them there was no credible threat.
