Police at some Capital Region schools after threat

WATERVLIET – A police car was outside the Watervliet Junior Senior High School on Monday.

“Early this morning I received an email that had some concerning, threatening language that increased our level of concern based on another email that we had received last Thursday,” Watervliet School Superintendent Donald Stevens said.

Watervliet wasn’t alone.

Green Island got an email containing a non-specific threat. The email was generic, said Superintendent Kimberly Ross. Heatly was put on a lockout, and they did a K-9 sweep as a precaution.

Members of the administrative team in North Colonie got an email with a non-specific threat, they said.

In Watervliet, Stevens was in school buildings well before the school day even began. Police were notified. An FBI investigator came to the school.

“We essentially have a lockout in place at all times,” said the superintendent. “We only have our front entrances that are accessible for individuals, so we are maintaining that throughout the day.”

Investigators say several downstate schools were sent the same or similar emails, and according to North Colonie, so were schools in other states.

Even though the threat was deemed not credible, there was a sweep of both Watervliet schools and the parking areas, and a bag check, as a precaution.

“Children come to these buildings to learn and parents send them here to be safe and they expect that there’s a level of safety at all times,” said Dr. Stevens. “That’s our vow to our community. We’ll do whatever we need to to make sure we have a safe environment.”