JAY — Maine State Police said a report of a student with a gun at Spruce Mountain High School in Jay Wednesday morning appears to be a prank. The report prompted school officials to lock down the middle and high schools.
Wednesday afternoon Jay Police Chief Richard E. Caton IV said four calls were referred through the 911 system about 8:10 - 8:15 a.m.
He said, "Two calls were hang ups. One said, 'Spruce Mountain Middle School Help Help.' The second said, 'At the Spruce Mountain Middle School there's a guy with a gun.'"
Caton said the elementary, middle and high schools were locked down due to their close proximity.
"It's still under investigation. We're looking at more than one person. They're believed to be students," he said. "Searches were conducted in all three schools, made sure they were deemed safe one at a time," he said.
Once the schools were cleared, parents were contacted. They could pick up their students if they wished, he said.
Departments from Livermore Falls, Wilton, Farmington and the Maine State Police assisted.
Near the end of the school day, Spruce Mountain Primary School principal Kevin Harrington said he got the call just before students were due to arrive. Primary students took breakfast to their classrooms so students from the other three schools could be fed in the cafeteria. A similar approach was used for lunch.
"We decided early to feed them lunch too. Our cafeteria folks were awesome. We utilized the bus drivers too. There was great organization," he said. "Students were back on buses to go to the other schools about forty minutes after the lock down ended.
"The kids were great. I've got nothing but praise for them," Harrington said.
Shortly after noon Wednesday, Spruce Mountain Superintendent of Schools Kenneth Healey said by phone, "Franklin County Dispatch received a call this morning saying there was a person with a gun at Spruce Mountain Middle School. The Jay Police Department was contacted and the principals at both schools put the schools in lock down. Police conducted searches of the two buildings and concluded it was a hoax. They will continue to investigate."
Healey said Wednesday was a late start day and students were being delivered to the schools at the time of the report.
He said police responded quickly and put kids back on the buses. Middle and high school students were first taken to the elementary school. They were later bused to the Spruce Mountain Primary School in Livermore.
"We tried to find a safe location away from the site," Healey said. "The primary school has about 200 more students there."
Healey met with Jay's Police Chief. Healey said because the report was determined to be a hoax, no press conference was planned.
"We've practiced for three years. With the timing today, parents were bringing kids to the schools. It's our practice not to inform parents. We can't have 3,000 parents coming in," Healey said.
He said a teacher training on how to respond to an active shooter situation had been held on Aug. 28 with an Androscoggin County deputy sheriff and Livermore Falls Fire Chief Edward Hastings IV. A monthly safety meeting is scheduled for next Tuesday.
"We come up with and practice plans from the regular safety meetings. The teachers followed the practices they learned on the 28th. We'll see on Tuesday if additional steps are needed," Healey said.
A Jay Police Department Facebook post about 11:30 Wednesday morning stated, "Spruce Mountain Schools have been released from lockdown after a 911 call was received stating there was a guy with a gun at the Spruce Mountain Middle School. Jay police is still investigating. All RSU 73 schools have been deemed safe by police and school staff."
At a little after 10 a.m., Wilton Police Chief Heidi Wilcox blocked access to the Spruce Mountain middle and high schools. She said Cpl. Jeffrey Fournier, Jay Police Department, was the officer on duty who took the call.
The parking lot at the Knights of Columbus across the street was filled as parents and relatives waited for news.
Samantha Scarbrough of Jay has a 9-year-old daughter at the Spruce Mountain Elementary school and a niece in the middle school. She heard some buses with students were sent to the Spruce Mountain Primary School in Livermore.
"The elementary school is locked down too. I don't know where my daughter is," she said at the time.
Scarbrough said she had heard four different accounts about the situation. She was worried about her daughter's emotional state.
"How am I going to deal with that tomorrow?" she asked.
Some parents learned about the situation on Facebook.
"I don't do Facebook," Scarbrough said.
Amy Mosher of Livermore Falls learned about it when her husband Robert Mosher saw the police cruiser blocking access to the schools on his way to breakfast at McDonald's. She has a son in the middle school.
"Why didn't the school send out an alert saying the school is on lockdown and why and that more information would be provided as it became available?" she asked. "I can't believe this right now."
Robert said the Sheriff's Department told him it was a prank call and the student was being interviewed.
This story will be updated.
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