Officials to formulate 'response' should school shootings occur in VI– Premier
The Premier, speaking during a press conference on October 12, 2023, said during his time as an Education Minister, most responses formulated have been in relation to natural disasters and not so much having to deal with planning for school shootings.
Preparing for shooting events
“As we know, all over the world now while we see some of this phenomenon as it pertains to school shootings and things like that, and while we've never seen an incident like that here, I do think it behooves us to take notice of the trends taking place in the world and to adequately prepare ourselves,” he said.
The premier added, “So I can say when the Education Minister returns, that's perhaps something that I can speak to her about, to engage with officials about to ensure that they do have a response or a plan for any occurrence such as that.”
Meanwhile, the Police commissioner said police officers are already prepared to deal with any such occurrence, as they have already responded to similar calls.
He said at the recent incident on the campus of Elmore Stoutt High School (ESHS), the call was that a masked gunman was on the school’s premises, and noted that his officers are adequately trained to deal with any such scenario they are faced with.
“Within a few minutes of that incident being reported, it came in at 10 to 12 (11:50) on Monday morning. I had a firearms commander and chief Inspector at the school dictating the resources and dealing with the incident at the school.”
Masked man but no gun - Education Ministry
On October 9, 2023, the Ministry of Education reported that the school saw an incident that involved an alleged retaliation in connection with a stolen bike.
“During the altercation, one student left the campus premises, prompting our school officials to initiate an immediate investigation. As a result of our evaluation of the situation, a decision was made to contact local law enforcement for assistance.
The statement added that authorities were already on campus when the student who had left the premises returned, accompanied by three other individuals on bikes.
“Notably, one of these individuals was wearing a mask,” the Ministry said while adding that following the police's arrival and subsequent detainment of the individuals, no firearms or other weapons were found in their possession.
It was also disclosed that an imitation firearm was found; however, the person was not on campus.
12 Responses to “Officials to formulate 'response' should school shootings occur in VI– Premier”
It is true that the RVIPF need to up it's serves, but, continued criticism against it's performance, and not supporting the police officers effort is counter productive to the goal of lower crime incedence in the B.V.I.
Until we recognize racist behaviors is a crime against humanity, and accept other ethnicity as our equal in spite of some variation, our hope for peace among our neighbors will be hopeless. Rather than ask of our neighbors what do you have to give to me? Why not rather ask our neighbors, how can I be of any help to you today, tomorrow, in the near future? All members of the RVIPF are a vital part of our neighborhood. Without them all hell will break loose in the B.V.I. We cannot afford not to partner them doing there duty, when we are able to do so, yet being very careful of possibly betrayal.