Not just another school day after threats and lockdowns

As the FBI continued to probe who threatened Broward's schoolchildren, students returned to class.

BY JAMES BURNETT III AND CARLI TEPROFF

JBURNETT@MIAMIHERALD.COM

School bells rang as usual Friday, sending students back to class after an anonymous shooting threat sparked an unprecedented lockdown of all Broward schools and administrative buildings earlier in the week.

Many students were more annoyed than apprehensive about the lockdown.

``I think I can speak for lots of us when I say, I understand why the administration was worried, you know? But the lockdown was an overreaction,'' said Frank Vatel, a 16-year-old sophomore at South Broward High School.

No lockdowns took place Friday, but police still fielded new threats throughout the day, said district spokeswoman Nadine Drew.

The Fort Lauderdale Police Department said a mass shooting threat had been made at Dillard High School, on the two-year anniversary of the fatal shooting of Dillard student Amanda Collette, 15.

Collette was shot by classmate Teah Wimberly on Nov. 12, 2008, after she rejected Wimberly's romantic advances. Wimberly is now serving a 25-year prison sentence, after being convicted of second-degree murder.

Davie Police were also on alert Friday, after a Hebrew school in that city received an anonymous threat.

Those warnings were not considered as credible as Wednesday's threat that started in Pembroke Pines and quickly spread to the entire Broward school district.

ONGOING PROBE

The FBI, which is overseeing the investigation into who made the threats, had no updates Friday.

The agency's Miami field office also declined to comment on reports that the anonymous caller, who claimed her husband was behind Wednesday's threatening e-mail, lives in New Port Richey and remains uncooperative.

About 1 a.m. Wednesday, Joyce Kaufman, a talk radio host on WFTL AM 850, received an anonymous e-mail through the station's website contact form. The e-mail threatened a mass shooting at a Pembroke Pines school.

Later that morning, a woman telephoned WFTL and said the author of the threatening e-mail was her husband. She said she was worried he would make good on his threats, and that it could happen at any Broward school or government building.

Before 9 a.m. Wednesday, Pembroke Pines Police had made the decision to lock down that city's schools, and not long after, a Code Red security threat was issued districtwide.

Parochial and private schools quickly followed.

More than 230,000 students were affected by the roughly three-hour lockdown, which was lifted just in time for school to let out on Wednesday.

`FROZE YOU IN PLACE'

During the lockdown, students had to remain in their classroom and could not leave, even for the restroom, unless they were escorted.

``They kind of froze you in place, wherever you were, when the announcement came down,'' explained Chris Alexander, a freshman at South Broward High. Alexander was trapped in the school office for nearly four hours, he said.

Because schools were out Thursday for Veterans Day, many kids were excited to get back and see their friends Friday.

Hallandale Elementary first-grader Michael Titus couldn't wait to get out his mom's car Friday morning.

``We couldn't do anything,'' he said, referring to the lockdown. ``I hope it doesn't happen again.''

Tarisha Lynch, whose daughter Khalia is a third-grader at the school, said she has faith it won't.

``I think this is a one time thing,'' she said, noting she talked to her daughter how Wednesday's event was just a precaution. ``I think the schools are safe.''

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