By MADDY VITALE
Ocean City High School students were safely evacuated Tuesday after a post on social media threatened a shooting at the school.
No one was injured. Authorities believe that the threat was not credible and school is scheduled to resume Wednesday, according to a city news release.
School officials were made aware of a screenshot of a message on social media threatening a shooting. Students and faculty were immediately evacuated and sent home for the day, according to officials.
The school put out a security alert saying, “Ocean City police have been called to the high school. All students are safe, but we are taking the threat serious. The district will continue to work with Ocean City Police and communicate with parents once we know more information.”
Police responded to the scene with a heavy presence and took K-9s into the school Tuesday afternoon to search. Later, all was declared clear.
No one was allowed in the building or on school property except for law enforcement since it was an active investigation.
Police cars closed traffic off from Atlantic Avenue in front of the high school. Roads were closed on either side at Fifth and Sixth Streets near the high school.
One student asked an officer if she could get her belongings in the school. The officer told her that no one was allowed in.
Some people walking by asked the officers what was happening at the school. Motorists slowed down to see what was going on.
“It was an awesome response from several agencies,” Police Chief Jay Prettyman said in a text to OCNJDaily.com.
Other law enforcement agencies that assisted were the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office, the Atlantic City Police Department’s Bomb Squad and the FBI.
Prettyman praised the response time by the multiple agencies.
“The speed and professionalism in which the officers responded and did their jobs helped us control the situation, conduct our investigation and return the school to our district in a minimal amount of time. I am very proud of all of their efforts,” he said.
An investigation is ongoing, but at this time police do not believe the threat was credible, according to the city’s news release.
