For the second day in a row Londonderry parents received a notice from Superintendent Nathan Greenberg alerting them to disturbing information. This time it wasn’t a robo-called bomb threat to a school (see story page 5) but police activity in the area near the schools, leading to problems with bus routes.
According to local officials, the incident on Currier Drive did not concern Londonderry schools directly but rather involved a police standoff.
Londonderry Police Chief Bill Hart said late Tuesday that a criminal investigation is ongoing that began around 10:20 a.m. that morning when the LPD received a call from a relative saying they wanted to report a relative who was planning to harm himself. The Londonderry police responded and have been on scene all day. The New Hampshire State Police Major Crimes Department and the Attorney General’s Office have taken over the investigation.
The Londonderry Police Department would not release any further information.
In the interests of safety, schools in the general area of the incident took precautions to safeguard students and staff, keeping them indoors and notifying parents that buses would not be allowed into certain areas to deliver students home.
Shortly after 2 p.m. Tuesday, Greenberg told parents, “There is currently ongoing police activity in the area of Devonshire, Wilshire and Currier. As a result, the police have significantly limited access to that area. As a purely precautionary measure, students at Moose Hill, Matthew Thornton, Londonderry Middle School and the high school are being kept inside their respective schools. High school students will be escorted to the gym, and there is additional administration presence in the parking lot.”
Afternoon kindergarten students were dropped off at Matthew Thornton and escorted to Moose Hill by faculty, staff and the School Resource Officer (SRO). The SRO remained at Moose Hill.
Londonderry Police notified Greenberg that the situation would not be resolved by school dismissal time so bus access to those specific areas of town was restricted. Parents living in those areas were contacted by the schools and asked to make arrangements for their children to be picked up.
“Once again, all of our actions are precautionary in nature and our students are safe,” Greenberg said.
No other information was available as of press time Tuesday.