NEWBURGH – A portion of Newburgh Free Academy North was evacuated Monday morning after officials received some form of threat. Students were seen standing in the rain while police searched the building.
Newburgh City Police, with support from their K-9 unit, searched the area of the building that was supposedly targeted.
A social media post Monday morning said an individual has “planted a bomb in the back of the gym. Blow everybody into lil pieces,” the post stated.
At the same time, Superintendent of Schools Ed Forgit posted a letter to Heritage Middle School parents, faculty and staff on the district website.
“The district is aware of a post on social media that showed a firearm and a threatening message. We immediately notified the Town of New Windsor Police Department,” he wrote. “The district takes any threat to our district, students, faculty and staff seriously and will work with law enforcement to enforce the most appropriate consequences.”
In the meantime, he said the school will remain open with additional police presence.
Over the weekend, Forgit sent another message to the school community following a social media post that showed a firearm and a caption,
“Temple is next.” Police were alerted to that as well.
The school district spokeswoman has not responded to two phone calls for comment.