Superintendent of schools Thomas Scarice offers this update on today’s swatting incident at Bedford Middle School:
As many of you know, Bedford Middle School received a threatening phone call at approximately 10:31 a.m., prompting an immediate lockdown of the school. Based on information provided by the Westport Police Department shortly thereafter, the district was informed that the call appeared to be part of a series of suspected swatting incidents reported across Connecticut today, including reported incidents in Killingly and Greenwich.
While early information suggested this was likely a hoax, Westport Public Schools and the Westport Police Department followed all established safety protocols, and responded as though the threat was real until proven otherwise.
A lockdown was immediately initiated at Bedford Middle School, and because Bedford and Staples High School share a campus, Staples High School was placed into a shelter-in-place as an added precaution.
Throughout the morning, we provided updates to the community as information became available:
- 10:31 a.m. – Threatening call received at Bedford Middle School; lockdown initiated.
- 10:57 a.m. – Initial communication (#1) sent to families informing the community of the Bedford lockdown and Staples shelter-in-place.
- 11:24 a.m. – Staples High School shelter-in-place lifted.
- 11:40 a.m. – Community update (#2) distributed regarding the lifting of the Staples shelter-in-place.
- 11:58 a.m. – Bedford Middle School lockdown lifted after law enforcement cleared the interior of the building.
- 12:09 p.m. – Community update (#3) distributed announcing the lifting of the Bedford lockdown.
Once the interior of the building was cleared, Bedford transitioned from a “lockdown” to “secure the school” status, while first responders completed their work outside the building.
For those unfamiliar with these terms:
- A Lockdown is used when there is a potential threat to safety. Students and staff immediately move into secured rooms, doors are locked, and students and staff are expected to remain silent until first responders or administrators provide direction.
- Secure the School status is used when there is no identified threat inside the building, but access to and from the building remains restricted while law enforcement continues to investigate or address activity outside the school. Teaching and learning activities may continue during this status.
I arrived at Bedford Middle School just before 11:00 a.m. I remained with the building administration and emergency response team for the duration of the incident.
After the lockdown was lifted, I walked throughout all 9 instructional pods. Along with the Bedford administrative team, I had the opportunity to observe classrooms, speak with staff, and interact with students across the building.
Students demonstrated resilience, maturity and cooperation throughout an extraordinarily stressful situation. Teachers and staff provided exactly what students needed: calm, reassurance, consistency and care.
Our mental health support team was available throughout the day to support students, recognizing that some were understandably affected by the events of the morning. These resources will remain available tomorrow and in the days ahead for any student who may need additional assistance processing today’s events. We encourage students and families to reach out if support would be helpful.
In accordance with our guidance to faculty, many classrooms shifted their focus toward community-building conversations, reflection, and relationship-building activities. The professionalism and compassion displayed by our staff helped restore a sense of normalcy and security for students.
At 3:30, Bedford faculty and administration met to conduct an initial debrief of the day’s events. In the coming days, Westport Public Schools and the Westport Police Department will conduct a more comprehensive after-action review to evaluate our response, identify lessons learned, and continue strengthening our emergency preparedness efforts.
I want to express my sincere gratitude to the Westport Police Department for their leadership and professionalism throughout the incident. We are also deeply appreciative of the support provided by emergency responders from Fairfield, Norwalk, Stamford, the State Police and our many regional partners who assisted today.
Most importantly, I want to thank our students, faculty, staff and families. While today’s events were unsettling, our school community responded with patience, trust, and cooperation. The effectiveness of any safety response depends upon people working together, and today that partnership was evident throughout our community.
The investigation into the source of the call remains active and is being handled by the Westport Police Department.
While we hope never to experience an incident such as this, today demonstrated the strength of our emergency procedures, the professionalism of our staff, the partnership of our law enforcement agencies.
Thank you for your continued support and trust.
