WESTMORELAND, Jamaica  – Parents were sent scampering as they grabbed their children from the Grange Hill Primary School in Westmoreland after it was alleged that gunmen threatened to shoot up the institution on Tuesday morning.

Speaking with Observer Online, the principal of the institution Clayton Smith described the event as ‘deja vu’ as he recalled a similar incident in 2016.

Smith said the police confirmed that there was a threat placed on the school so parents were alerted.

“Parents were very anxious. Parents were very disturbed. Some were careful and decided that they were not taking any chance and so they picked up the children in haste. [They] came in droves and picked them up in quick time,” Smith said.

The headmaster said the school began promptly at 8 am, but by 9 am, the school was practically empty.

“The police were contacted. The police, in fact, indicated that the threat is real and there has been sporadic gunfire in the community during the time when the police were coming to the school,” Smith told Observer Online.

He also revealed that the police and military escorted the remaining children to a place of safety.

Meanwhile, Observer Online understands that two vehicles were shot up in the community Tuesday morning.

Smith confirmed that a student and parent were in one of the vehicles.

The police/military presence has increased in the Grange Hill space.

Kimberley Peddie