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Police beefed up security outside Columbia High School on June 5, following a ‘Code Yellow’ incident the day before, when a student was arrested for bringing a knife, as well as an Airsoft gun, to the school. On June 3, a Maplewood Middle School student was arrested for bringing a loaded gun to his school.
MAPLEWOOD/SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — The Maplewood Police Department and the South Orange-Maplewood School District were quite busy last week, as Maplewood Middle School was placed under a “Code Red” on June 3 and Columbia High School was placed under a “Code Yellow” on June 4. The result: A seventh-grader and a ninth-grader have been arrested by police and expelled from school for bringing weapons into their school buildings.
According to Maplewood Police, officers responded to Maplewood Middle School at approximately 12:03 p.m. on Wednesday, June 3, on report of a student armed with a weapon.
The school was placed under “Code Red” status, meaning a lockdown and full cessation of classes. With assistance from South Orange police and Essex County Sheriff’s officers, the Maplewood police searched the school and took a 13-year-old seventh-grade boy into custody. The boy was allegedly in possession of a 9mm Glock handgun loaded with hollow-point bullets.
Hollow-point bullets are designed to expand when they hit their target, making them more lethal; also sometimes called “cop-killer bullets,” these are illegal in New Jersey, except under certain circumstances — this case does not fit those circumstances.
The middle school student has been charged with possession of a weapon on school property, possession of a weapon for unlawful purpose and possession of penetrating bullets. Police turned him over to the Essex County Juvenile Detention Center. Acting Superintendent James Memoli confirmed at a June 8 meeting that the student has been permanently expelled from the school district. Maplewood Police Chief Robert Cimino told the community June 8 that the gun was legally owned by the student’s parent. Cimino said the gun was now in police custody and that the parent had been charged with failing to properly secure a weapon.
Cimino also indicated that the middle school student’s family was not cooperating with the police investigation.
“Due to the legal requirements, we cannot compel a child to speak with us,” Cimino said. “If parents are not going to cooperate with us, we cannot speak to that child and do an interview or an interrogation. So, without getting into much detail, we don’t have a very clear picture of what things preceded the incident at Maplewood Middle School.”
“Today was a difficult day for the entire MMS school community,” Memoli wrote in a June 3 letter to MMS staff. “I thank each and every one of you for the outstanding job you did in protecting the students and making sure that we dealt with a very difficult situation in a way that students felt supported and safe.”
The following day, on Thursday, June 4, Maplewood officers responded to Columbia High School at approximately 2:48 p.m. on report of a student armed with a handgun. The school was placed under “Code Yellow” status, meaning “shelter in place.” According to the school district, a “Code Yellow” lets teachers and students remain in instruction while the incident is investigated. The shelter-in-place order was lifted by Maplewood police at approximately 3:15 p.m. and after-school activities continued as scheduled.
At the time police were contacted, the student in question was already with school administrators, according to a letter sent the evening of June 4 by Memoli and CHS Principal Elizabeth Aaron to the community.
Following an investigation, police arrested a ninth-grade boy, age 15, who was allegedly in possession of an Airsoft gun and a kitchen-style knife. An Airsoft gun is a realistic replica firearm that, while not intended to be lethal, can shoot plastic or aluminum pellets.
Though he stressed that Airsoft guns are inappropriate to bring to school, Cimino said June 8 that legally an Airsoft gun is not considered a firearm, which is why the student was charged for possession of the knife, rather than the replica gun. Memoli said June 8 that, although the student has been expelled from CHS, he could potentially be reinstated to the school after a one-year period.
In response to a parent questioning how much a teenager can change in just one year, Aaron told parents June 8 that the decision to readmit the CHS student would ultimately be her own.
“I certainly would make the entrance of any student contingent on if they can be safe in our building and on their impact on the safety and wellness of others,” Aaron said.
“The CHS administrative team is grateful for the swift and competent work of the Maplewood Police Department and for the Columbia students and staff, who handled the ‘Code Yellow’ as has been practiced in school safety drills,” Memoli and Aaron wrote to the community on June 4.
Due to the events at the high school, Maplewood police posted additional patrols in the area of the school the following day. Also, parking was banned on the south side of Parker Avenue near the school.
According to Maplewood police, the incidents — though occurring shockingly close together — are unrelated. In both incidents, students had informed school staff that they believed a fellow student to be in possession of a weapon. Staff members is both schools immediately contacted police.
Regarding the CHS incident, Suzanne Turner, director of strategic communications for the district, told the News-Record in a June 5 email: “Several students made adults aware that there was a potentially dangerous situation. Their courageous action and model citizenship enabled the adults to take the steps necessary to ensure that the school was safe.”
In a June 4 address to his students, MMS Principal Jerrill Adams said: “Some great things happened yesterday. Several students understood that it was important to let their teachers and the principal know that there was an unsafe situation. They did the right thing. Because of their smart actions, the adults were able to do what we needed to do to make the school safe.”
Although there were rumors of a “hit list” following the incident at the middle school, Maplewood police assured community members in a June 4 release that “the investigation has not revealed any indication that there was a specific threat against any persons or person.”
A June 5 press release from Maplewood police stated: “Contrary to rumor, there was no ‘hit list’ recovered during the investigation for the incident at the Maplewood Middle School and there has been no information that there will be future fights involving weapons at Columbia High School.”
“There were a whole variety of rumors circulating on social media,” Turner told the News-Record. “None were true.”
In a June 5 message to the CHS community, Memoli and Aaron also stressed that the rumors swirling around the CHS incident are untrue and should not be given credence.
“We are aware that various rumors have been circulating about safety at CHS,” Memoli and Aaron wrote. “CHS administration regrets the large amount of negative social media related to CHS and safety. Thank you to the students and parents who have shared rumors and concerns with us. CHS administration is working closely with law enforcement to investigate rumors and make decisions based on facts.
“We encourage parents to engage in thoughtful conversations about social media with their children and we will continue to make every effort to lead strong schools and support parents and children in making healthy and safe decisions about conflict resolution,” they continued.
As a follow-up, Aaron sent a message to the CHS community the morning of June 8 to dispel some of the rumors, such as the incorrect rumor that CHS had been placed under “lockdown.”
“Contrary to the rumors, there have not been ‘three weeks of fights’ or ‘fights every day’ or ‘nine fights in one week’ at CHS,” Aaron wrote. “Over the past week, a very small number of students chose to start and/or resolve conflict with violence. Two of the altercations happened off school grounds. One happened outside during lunch, and one happened when two students chose to disregard school rules about where they were supposed to be during class time.
“This past Friday was a smooth and regular school day at CHS,” Aaron continued. “While our average daily absentee rate was a bit higher than usual, nowhere near ‘half of Columbia’ stayed home. In fact, it seemed to us that students were being particularly aware of the need to be thoughtful and considerate to our staff and each other throughout the day. We are proud of them.”
Following the lockdown at the middle school, the following day on June 4 — as CHS dealt with its own safety issues — MMS dealt with the aftermath, which involved some scared and confused children. To help children cope with the prior day’s events, the district had additional staff members on-site from the beginning of the day, including all building social workers from across the district, according to a letter sent to the district community on June 4 from Memoli and Adams. Counselors were on-hand for students throughout the day, and will continue to be available as needed.
To assist teachers, the day began with a staff meeting, explaining the supports in place for both teachers and students. Then, after students had arrived, Adams addressed the entire school in a live news broadcast shown in every classroom; Adams later repeated his words to any students who had missed the initial broadcast.
“I want to start today off by letting each and every member of our school community know how proud I am of the way you all responded to the unexpected lockdown yesterday,” Adams told the school community June 4 during the news broadcast. “The police have also praised how well our community responded, and wanted me to share their thanks for everyone’s assistance.”
Immediately following the address, teachers led a guided discussion among the students regarding their feelings surrounding the incident and possible strategies for managing difficult situations in the future.
Teachers were given talking points and sample questions. They were: “Many kids struggle with knowing the difference between snitching and reporting. How do you understand the difference?” “If you’re anxious or worried about something, what do you do? Who do you talk to?” And “what is one thing that we can do to make sure that MMS is a great place for us to come to learn each day?”
Even with the supports in place, parents remained understandably concerned. Maplewood father Christopher Healy started a petition on Change.org on June 3 — before the June 4 address to students from Adams — asking the district to hold a community forum to discuss gun violence and to have an assembly for students. In just a short time, the petition had exceeded its goal of 500 resident signatures.
In response, the school district held a town hall-style meeting on community safety on Monday, June 8, at Maplewood Middle School. The event, attended by parents, guardians, concerned residents, school administrators, Board of Education members and municipal officials, addressed methods for keeping children safe, both physically and mentally. Main topics for discussion were ensuring a safe and positive climate in the schools; ways to protect children from guns and other threats of violence; and how to support students in times of crisis.
At the meeting, Memoli urged parents to work with the schools in educating children about gun safety, telling the community, “We cannot do this alone.”
Memoli also explained that, while he felt the schools were on the right path to becoming safer and more secure — with locked doors, security cameras, crisis management teams, counselors and more — he knows there is more work to be done.
One parent’s suggestion that metal detectors be put into place at the school was met with a vocal negative reaction from the crowd. South Orange Police Chief James Chelel warned that schools should remain “educational facilities” rather than “correctional facilities.”
Both incidents are still under investigation, with additional charges possibly pending. All persons charged are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.