Bullets found in nurse’s mailbox, bringing quick reaction from officials

BY KYLE BARNETT

Staff Reporter

RESERVE – “If we didn’t do this and put the school on lockdown, how would you feel if your kid was the first one to get shot?” Deputy Remondet said to a disgruntled parent while guarding the entrance to East St. John High School.

St. John the Baptist Sheriff’s deputies swarmed the school in Reserve when the campus was put on lockdown early Thursday.

During second period, students told teachers they had found four .45 caliber bullets under a wig in a mailbox that was hanging on the nurse’s station door.

The school immediately reported the find to St. John the Baptist Sheriff’s Office.

The school went into lockdown mode at approximately 10 a.m. that stayed in effect until 12:15 p.m. when some parents chose to take their children out of the school for the remainder of day.

During the lockdown, at least 10 deputies using metal detecting wands searched each room and each student for weapons. Teachers were also posted at every entrance to keep students in and intruders out.

No weapons were found.

Superintendent Michael Coburn said they would be reviewing security tapes later for any further information on who brought the ammunition into the school.

(See LOCKDOWN, page 2A)

This comes two months after a scare in which the school searched the vehicles of arriving students after receiving threatening phone calls.

A parent who chose to remain anonymous said her son accidentally brought a fishing knife to school during the earlier incident after he had been fishing the night before.

“He had a knife in his truck and they let him go by,” the parent said.

Another parent who wished to remain anonymous said her daughter is afraid to go to school. “I wish I could put her in private school, but we can’t afford it,” the parent said.

“They need to have metal detectors,” said Ian Trufant whose son is an East St. John High student. “The way kids are today. They figure, he got a gun (the school deputy). Why shouldn’t I have one?”

Ann Laborde, spokesperson for St. John Schools, says the school system has just purchased portable metal detectors that can be stationed at entrances, although the school system has yet to put them to use.

“It is scary when you hear about something like this,” said Junius Dantin, who was at the school to pick up his daughter. Dantin, however, only heard about the situation when his sister-in-law called him.

Parents who showed up were not contacted by the school system. Most parents received calls from their children on cell phones.

“They could have called,” said Michael Walker as he waited in line to claim his child. “They (the school) didn’t call us and tell what was going on.”

Laborde said the school recently purchased a Connect-ED system, which can be used to contact parents in such a situation, however the system has not been set up.

Principal Patricia Triche gave a letter to all parents who were present assuring the school was secure. On the backside of the letter was a form asking parents for current contact information in case of emergency.

In the letter Triche states, “Please be aware that we will always take any threat to student safety very seriously at ESJH.”

“The administration handled it as a real threat, fortunately it turned out to not be a real threat,” said Laborde.