“Madness, scary, terrifying,” were the reactions of some parents to a bone-chilling threat to harm students and teachers of the Barrackpore East Secondary School.
Parents turned up at the school yesterday morning to take their children home after learning about the threat.
TTUTA, parents and school officials said an email was sent to the school’s official email address and two teachers on Sunday.
It stated, “I promise every single soul will be dealt with accordingly, teachers and students will be dealt with in a painful way ... I been planning this since the new year. I am sure I will succeed in mission. I am coming for your school.”
While only ten teachers and 200 students turned up for school, by 10 am yesterday all classes were suspended as parents showed up to take their children home.
One parent Nicholas Manrique said he was alerted to the situation through one of the PTA’s WhatsApp chat.
Manrique said he might also keep his son home today, but that was just a temporary solution to the recurring problem.
“This is a norm because not too long ago my daughter’s school had a bomb threat. This is craziness. It might just be kids playing but in the event that something actually happens, because of the amount of firearms out there, I would not doubt it,” he said.
As she hurried through the rain with her daughter, Kavita Ramnath admitted that the situation was terrifying.
“Really, really scared, only child and if something was to happen like this, I don’t know. But, really scared, terrifying,” she said.
Another parent Kester Kernahan said he did not know what to make of the threat because there have been many previous false alarms, but he was not taking any chances.
Meanwhile, Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers Association president Martin Lum Kin strongly condemned the threats, describing it as an act of terrorism and treason. However, he said the Ministry of Education decided not to close the school, despite unease expressed by the administration, teachers and parents.
“TTUTA believes that in this day and age, any such threats should not be taken lightly and the Ministry of Education as well as the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service should take every precaution to preserve the lives of the occupants of the Barrackpore East Secondary School. TTUTA shudders to think if this threat was carried out and there was a loss of lives. Even one loss of life is one too many lost. An ounce of prevention is greater than a pound of cure,” he said. He called on the TTPS Cyber Unit to launch a full-scale investigation into the “ghastly act” and bring those responsible to justice.
Meanwhile, Oropouche East MP and shadow minister of National Security, Dr Roodal Moonilal called for the strengthening of the TTPS Cyber Crime Unit to prevent online threats.
He noted that the warning was issued against the backdrop of T&T’s unchecked crime rate and the prevalence of school shootings in other countries.
“The school community is understandably traumatised by the terrible threat to kill every student and teacher of the institution,” he said.
While commending the Barrackpore Police for instituting patrols, he said effective measures are needed.
“The Police Commissioner must strengthen the Cyber and Social Media Unit to stamp out digital crimes. The number of trained and experienced assigned officers must be increased to identify, collect and preserve online evidence through advanced investigations,” Moonilal said.
He called on the Ministry of Education to assign counsellors to help traumatised teachers and students of the school and ensure that the School Support Services provide the necessary guidance, counselling and social services to alleviate the fears of the staff and students.
Efforts to contact Education Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly for comment were unsuccessful.
In March this year, just over 49 schools in the South Eastern district were evacuated after a threat was made. It followed a similar incident in April last year where threats were made to over 100 schools around the country.