Students and teachers were evacuated from P.S. 20 in the Norwood section of the Bronx on Friday, March 4, due to a reported bomb threat. The area was later declared clear by police and safe for reentry.

 

A police official told Norwood News that an anonymous call had been placed with the school, located at 3050 Webster Avenue, next door to the 52nd precinct, at around 8.50 a.m., advising that there was a bomb on the premises. The NYPD spokesperson was unable to confirm on which extension or number the call had been placed, but confirmed that the school had been evacuated.

 

“All the students were taken to a nearby school but everything is [now] clear,” she said, referring to the school building having been checked by police. “At 11.36 [a.m.], everything was clear. Nothing was found at the school and the students are back in the school.”

 

One police officer we spoke to who was sitting in a police vehicle blocking off Webster Avenue at E 204th Street at around 12.22 p.m., also confirmed that the area had been deemed clear, as lines of students and staff were seen making their way back to the building, along the Avenue. Enrollment at the school for the academic year 2020-2021 was 857 according to the school’s website.

Asked if she could confirm which other schools had been impacted, as some parents had mentioned to Norwood News when we spoke to them that their kids had been brought to other schools temporarily after the evacuation, the NYPD spokesperson said, “I don’t have any information of other schools. I only have that one.”

 

In reference to the incident, on Friday afternoon, one social media user commented, “It was a student that did it.” Norwood News reached out to the person in question in an attempt to validate his assertion but did not receive an immediate response. We also contacted the New York City Department of Education (DOE) to see if department officials had any further information on the incident and also asked if indeed the department had found out who had placed the call at the school. We did not receive an immediate response. We will update this story upon receipt of any feedback we receive.

 

We spoke to some parents outside the school as they waited to pick up their children and asked them what they knew of the situation.

 

One mother who preferred not to be identified and who was standing across the street from the school entrance on Webster Avenue with her daughter, who is in the 8th grade, said, “We really don’t know what happened. My daughter texted me and she told me they thought the school was on fire from an alarm, and then, some of the kids have Citizen App, and the Citizen App was telling them there was a bomb threat, so, she called me,” she said. “Most of these kids didn’t have any coats on. They were sent to another school up the street, and I had to go pick her up in the middle of the scare. ”

 

The mother said she thought the incident happened at around 9/9.30 a.m. “They had literally only been at school for like an hour,” she said referring to the kids. Asked if she had been scared, she said, “Definitely. Everyone was scared.” She added that she didn’t receive a message from the school directly and that she also called some other parents to let them know as they were not aware of the incident either.

 

Yet another parent who works in Manhattan and whose child attends the school said she did not receive any message from the school about the incident either and had found out about it from other parents whose kids were attending M.S. 280 and M.S. 80. According to the parent, P.S. 20, 1st grade to 6th grade students were sent to P.S. 280 after the evacuation, and those from 7th grade upwards were sent to P.S. 80.

Speaking in Spanish, Walky De Nunez, another mother to her 6-year-old daughter who attends P.S. 20, said she was not sure what exactly had happened but that she understood the situation arose because of an apparent bomb alert. “I received a message from the school. They told me to come and collect my children because the building had been evacuated,” she said. “I spoke with my brother-in-law and I told him, ‘I’m in another location with my boyfriend, working,’ and so I said to him, ‘Please, go collect the children’.”

 

She said everything happened very fast and they evacuated the building and that was all she knew. Asked if she had gotten a shock when she got the news, she said, “Yes, it really shocked me.. it’s the truth. The idea of losing my daughters… I cried.. but thanks be to God because the kids are ok. All the kids are ok.”

A father, Samuel Estevez, also speaking in Spanish, who has two daughters aged 8 and 9 attending the school, told us, “We’re here because there was a bomb threat.” He said he has a daughter attending the school and as a result, he was very nervous. “That was very problematic that there was a bomb,” he said, adding that the community needed more security and that he has been calling local government officials and citizens to let them know that more security and vigilance is needed in the schools because security incidents like this one were happening more frequently. “If the schools got more help, it would be better,” he said.

 

Asked if this was the first time, to his knowledge, a bomb alert took place at his daughter’s school, he said, “In my experience, yes, it’s the first time.” However, he said security in general was an issue. “In general, there are a lot of weapons on the street,” he said. “We need to equip the police with the support that they need to ensure more safety,” he added.

 

Norwood News has reported on a number of security related incidents involving schools in recent months in the context of the ongoing debate over school safety agents, with some students, parents and teachers opposed to what is sometimes regarded as a heavy handed approach when it comes to security staff interacting with youth, while others believe more security is needed in schools.

 

On Feb. 7, we reported that one person had been transported to North Central Bronx Hospital on Feb. 2, from 100 W Mosholu Parkway South which is the address of DeWitt Clinton campus, the location of a number of different schools on the campus. Officials declined to say at the time if the incident involved a student, citing privacy reasons. In November 2021, we reported that a 14-year-old student was brought to Jacobi Hospital following a stabbing at Walton High School.

In September 2021, we reported how a student from Bronx Collaborative High School was hospitalized following a slashing incident which took place at the school on Sept. 15, after a dispute broke out between two students. Police later confirmed on Sept. 21 that a 15-year-old male was arrested on Sept. 20 in relation to the incident, and was charged with assault.

 

In October 2021, we reported how a 14-year-old student was slashed in Williamsbridge Oval park, following an escalation of tensions between two students who at one point attended the same local Bronx school.

 

We received a lengthy response last year from DOE on the latest planned strategy for school safety, when officials advised that plans were on track to transfer school safety agents away from the responsibility of the NYPD and under the remit of DOE. However, as of March 1, it is still the NYPD rather than DOE that is the agency which is actively recruiting for more school safety agents.

 

Norwood News reached out to the DOE for clarification of the latest plans in this regard, and will update this story upon receipt of a response. As reported, Mayor Eric Adams ran on a platform of ensuring both safety and justice across the City, and to date, crime has taken up a substantial part of his time during his first few months in office. As also reported, February 2022 has seen a 58.7 percent increase in overall index crime across the City, compared to Feb. 2021 (9,138 crimes versus 5,759).

 

 

Meanwhile, regarding the P.S. 20 bomb threat, Estevez went on to say that he was in favor of more support, in general, for the police. “The police are afraid to confront citizens,” he continued in Spanish. “In years gone by, there was more safety than there is now. When the government says that when you encounter an insane person, because they have a lot of rights, this sends a message that is understood by them.. telling them you can do many bad things,” he said, adding, “We’re always here for the community.”

 

Asked how he found out about the bomb alert incident, he said a neighbor who had been walking in the neighborhood and who saw all the commotion let him know “urgently” as he said the neighbor also has a child attending the school. Asked if the school called him, he said, “They didn’t call, no.”

 

In reference to the incident, Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson later wrote on social media, “Thankfully, this bomb threat was found to be non-credible. All staff and students of P.S. 20 were able to return to their school building. A very scary situation that could’ve been much much worse.” She added, “Thank You first responders and the school team at P.S. 20 for the swift response and evacuation procedures in place to keep our students and educators safe. “

 

Join Our NYPD School Safety Division Team! The Registration for the Exam is Free and Open until March 2, 2022. The NYPD provides good competitive benefits, pensions, and promotional opportunities. Register now at https://t.co/2u2Z71oJL5. pic.twitter.com/oqZ3n0rzY3

— NYPD School Safety (@NYPDSchools) March 1, 2022

 

According to the federal Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency, having a plan in the event of a bomb threat is essential. The agency provides the following assistance in this regard.

 

Have a Plan – Guidance for Facility Owners, Operators, and Managers

 

Meanwhile, anyone with information regarding the above referenced incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/ or on Twitter @NYPDTips.

 

All calls are confidential.