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A Message from Dr. Dude
Students, Parents, Guardians, and Community Members,
Today was a very difficult day for all of us in City Schools of Decatur. On behalf of our school district, I want to express our gratitude and appreciation for the CSD staff, Decatur Police Department, DeKalb County Police Department, DeKalb County Sheriff's Office, and other law enforcement agencies who responded swiftly and supportively to each of our schools. While the threats that prompted this response were not substantiated, it is always our protocol to respond quickly and decisively to keep children and staff safe. Our staff was well prepared to respond to this type of emergency, and we are grateful for their actions today.
Schools will operate as normal tomorrow, and the Decatur Police Department will provide additional officers throughout the district.
Thank you all for your patience and support throughout the day.
Sincerely,
David
Please see the following response from the Decatur Police Department for additional information:
On Tuesday, November 27, 2018, Decatur Police received reports of a bomb threat and threats of gun violence made against three elementary schools in the City of Decatur. The threats involved Glennwood Elementary School, Oakhurst Elementary School, and Winnona Park Elementary School. Officers responded to the three schools involved as well as all other CSD schools. Working with City Schools of Decatur, a system-wide lockdown of all schools was initiated until dismissal as a precautionary measure. DeKalb County Police and DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office personnel also responded to assist.
We are actively investigating these threats and looking at any similarities between today’s threats and similar incidents that have recently occurred in the Metro-Atlanta area. While we found no evidence to substantiate today’s threats, we must and will take any and all threats to the schools, your children and our community seriously and investigate such threats thoroughly. We have to look at all of the possibilities and follow up on any potential leads to try to determine if threats are legitimate, if they are pranks or “Swatting” and to find the source or origin. We cannot provide all of the details of ongoing investigations as doing so can compromise an investigation and negatively impact potential prosecution.
We understand that threats made against schools, against children are terrifying. Many of the officers serving Decatur are also parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. We understand that school lockdowns, alerts, seeing your child’s school on the news and seeing news helicopters hovering overhead is alarming and that parents feel helpless and vulnerable. The threats are doing exactly what they are intended to do. They are instilling fear and provoking panic and anxiety. Please know that we will run into the schools and to your children to keep them safe.
Officers will be patrolling the schools throughout the city through the end of this week. We will re-evaluate after investigators have an opportunity to follow up on potential leads. We will provide updates if and when suspects are identified, arrested or we have additional information that can be released.
We would also like to say you are most welcome and extend our appreciation for all of the parents and community members who have sent or posted messages thanking the officers today.