By Eileen Oldfield
A student’s threat of violence sent Hillsborough High School into a 25-minute lockdown around 8 a.m. Wednesday, police said.
According to school officials, administrators contacted the school’s resource officers after hearing a student threaten violence with a weapon during class. The student did not have a weapon at the time of the threat, police said.
The resource officers, Officer Richard Sellitsch and Officer Robert Fariello contacted the Hillsborough Police Department as the school went into lockdown.
Students and staff remained in classrooms during the lockdown, and were not allowed to leave.
Approximately six officers arrived at the school around 8:10 a.m., said Superintendent Edward Forsthoffer, who also reported to the school at that time.
Neither police, nor Dr. Forsthoffer, would discuss the alleged threat or the type of weapon mentioned in the threat.
Police reported taking the student into custody without incident, and said a preliminary investigation of the school did not reveal any weapons.
An alert went out to parents through the school’s instant alert system, said a letter on the high school’s Web site.
”We no longer have the luxury of making a statement and then retracting it or saying that it was simply a joke when it is of a threatening nature, whether that threat was intended or not,” said high school Principal Karen Bingert, in a letter sent to parents and posted on the high school Web site. “Schools in particular have the daunting responsibility of providing for the safety of thousands of young people at one time, and comments made lightly cannot be allowed to minimize our vigilance in identifying actual threats.”
No additional information was available before the Hillsborough Beacon’s deadline.
The investigation is ongoing, and will be forwarded to the Somerset County prosecutor’s office for review when it is complete.

