Shooting threat closes all schools in NJ district; other schools, officials also menaced

All Vineland public schools were closed Thursday because of a social media threat about a possible shooting.

The threat was one of several made against schools and officials across the state this week.

The school district with an enrollment of around 10,000 students at 14 schools called off classes, including private pre-school providers, “out of an abundance of caution,” according to a message on the district website. No virtual option was available.

A spokeswoman told the Vineland Daily Journal that the threat involved a possible school shooting made on social media and referred specifically to Vineland High School.

More school-related threats

Millville High School, also in Cumberland County, was the target of an online threat that included several high schools, according to Millville police. The threat was determined to not be credible.

Security was increased at the Eric Smith Middle School in Ramsey on Monday after a parent made a “single verbal suggestion of violence” against the school, according to a NorthJersey.com report.

Schools Superintendent Matthew Murphy in an email to the district said all threats are taken seriously but no student or staff was ever in danger, according to the report. He did not offer details about the threat or how it was received.

Two members of the Hackensack Board of Education received death threats via mail over the weekend, according to a message on the district website.

"The district takes these matters seriously and publicly denounces all acts of intimidation, aggression and threats of violence to any members of its school community," the district said in a statement.

School board members Michael Oates and Scott James-Vickery told NorthJersey.com they received threats showing their faces in crosshairs with bullet wounds.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ