Schools in Grange Hill, Westmoreland, close following shooting threats

Classes at Grange Hill Primary School in Westmoreland have been dismissed for the rest of the day following a shooting threat.

Clayton Smith, the principal of the 100-year-old institution, said he received a call that there were shootings in the Grange Hill area and that there were plans to shoot up the school.

“The words that I got were that they were going to shoot up Grange Hill Primary School. I am not certain why that may be the case,” Smith told The Gleaner.

He said parents rushed to collect their children out of fear.

He said only 24 of the approximately 800 students enrolled at the school were left at the institution at the time of dismissal this morning.

“We saw a rush of parents as evidence of the threat was sent, not to us at school but to parents, and by the time we got settled, parents were coming to take their children,” the principal explained. 

Meanwhile, administrators at Grange Hill High School also dismissed classes for the day out of caution.

Trevine Donaldson-Lawrence, principal of the school, says the decision to close came after discussions with the police, the Ministry of Education, staff and parents. 

“We are closed too, but based on the ground, the police said there was no immediate threat to our school, but because we have students, teachers and other staff coming from different areas of the community, so in the best interest of all our stakeholders, we have dismissed classes for today,” Donaldson-Lawrence told The Gleaner.

The volatile community of Grange Hill has been tense as five men have been killed recently in the escalating gang feud between the infamous King Valley Gang and the emerging Ants Posse Gang.

The security forces have increased their presence in the area as part of efforts to quell the lawlessness and restore order to the community.

- Albert Ferguson 

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