Updated: CHS Principal Elizabeth Aaron confirmed in an announcement to students that the Code Yellow issued this morning was due to “security concerns regarding some postings on social media.”
Columbia High School went into a code yellow shelter in place alert shortly before 9 a.m. this morning due to “security concerns regarding some postings on social media,” according to Principal Elizabeth Aaron who made this statement in an announcement to students.
VillageGreenNJ.com received a screen shot of a social media posting allegedly made by someone promising, “When I get to 1K I’ll post a video of me shooting up the school.” The image has been forwarded to Maplewood police. Village Green does not know the real life identity of the poster; the social media posting was forwarded by a CHS student to a parent.
Maplewood and South Orange police were on site at CHS this morning. The code yellow alert shelter in place alert meant that “no one is permitted to enter or leave the building, but that classes continue as usual,” according to a communication from the school district. The code yellow was instituted during first period. Parker Avenue was closed to traffic at that time.
By 9:15 a.m., the code yellow had been lifted and students were being allowed to enter the school.
Maplewood Police Captain Dawn Williams said that a full release regarding the incident would be issued later today.
From the South Orange-Maplewood School District:
This morning CHS administrators were informed of a potential safety issue. They worked with the Maplewood and South Orange Police Departments to go into a code yellow shelter in place during first period as a precautionary measure. Shelter in place means that no one is permitted to enter or leave the building, but that classes continue as usual. With the assistance of the police, the code yellow has now been lifted, and all students and staff are safe. We are returning to a normal Wednesday at CHS.
