NORTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - Police have responded to the scene of a reported threat at Mater Lakes Academy Charter School in Northwest Miami-Dade. After a sweep throughout the school, officials found no threat.
Miami-Dade Police arrived at the scene to investigate the scare after a threat, officials said, was made. They told 7News that they received threats of a shooting at the school, earlier this week. School officials told parents that they are not taking any chances. Police have since confirmed that there was no gunman on campus and no gun threat, Wednesday afternoon.
Students sent pictures of heavily armed officers from inside the classroom to 7News. “We didn’t know if it was a drill or not,” said student Nicole Vasquez. “A lot of people got scared. We started texting our parents, telling them what happened.”
School officials told students, at around 2 p.m., during sixth period, to remain inside their classrooms. There were some reports of students getting underneath their desks during a sweep of the campus.
A representative from the school said that a rumor prompted the police response and that they notified parents while police investigated.
Parents were asked to wait outside of the school during the sweep. “I just asked him if he knew what happened, and he said apparently, someone came into the school and was threatening a teacher,” said Nicole’s mother, Maria Vasquez. “So of course, they needed to be on lockdown.”
After the sweep, every classroom was evacuated and students were allowed to go home early under a “controlled dismissal.” Sources said the high school was evacuated first and then the middle school. “An officer came into our classroom, taking people one by one,” Nicole said. “He told us that everything’s OK, but he didn’t tell us what exactly happened.
On Monday, the school had a similar scare that turned out to be a hoax. However, officials have not released if the scare earlier this week has anything to do with the incident Wednesday, nor if the scare was classified as bogus.
Both students and parents said they were happy with the way the incident was handled.
Police said they have not identified a suspect.
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