Four persons have been questioned as the police continue to probe violent threats made on Facebook to the student body of the School of the Nations, and the subsequent shooting of its principal outside his home on Sunday.
The police’s Cybercrime unit is actively involved in the investigation, Commissioner of Police Leslie James told reporters yesterday. He said that apart from those who were questioned, several others are being pursued.
“Of course it’s a serious matter which, it started with the threat and it resulted with the shooting. I won’t say, well not necessarily result, but we have seen the shooting of the principal Mr O’Toole…what I can say is that we have taken some actions, we have contacted a few persons, there are some others that we are pursuing and it’s an ongoing investigation,” James said,
While he refused to state whether the persons who were questioned are current or former students of the school, James said, “they might either be current or former students, within that category.”
He said that the police has gotten cooperation as the investigation continues. “We have been having cooperation. We can say that it’s a progressive investigation…it’s a matter where there will eventually have to be confrontation because of what is alleged. So eventually, I am sure it will result in some success,” James noted.
He said that the Cybercrime unit is actively involved in the investigation and other assistance has been sought. “….we sought and we have obtained some other assistance other than within the Guyana Police Force,” James said.
The top cop further explained that the police have not yet established any link between the threats and shooting. “We have not seen such but the fact that someone was shot and it has to do, well he is the principal of that said school, we have considered that it can be a link. However, when we have spoken to Mr O’Toole, based on his description and his further explanation, so far it seem as though we are looking for a different person,” James explained.
Hours after addressing parents’ security concerns on Sunday, Dr O’Toole was shot by a gunman at his home
“There were three bullets fired at me. I was struck by two of them. One did minor damage on the right arm and the other was more serious on the left where the bone was badly damaged. I am getting better and will likely be in the hospital for a few days,” he said in a Facebook post on Monday from his hospital bed.
Stabroek News understands that the gunman was not masked when he confronted Dr O’Toole.
Moments after the shooting, a post indirectly claiming responsibility was made on the Facebook page where an initial threat had been posted.
The post containing the first threat was made days after a student was expelled for threatening to “shoot up” the school. That student was questioned by the police and has since claimed that the threat was a joke.
Since the threats, the school has retained the services of private security firms Delta Security and Sheriff Security Services, which announced they were providing their services on a pro-bono basis.
At a meeting on Monday evening, parents made it clear to the school administration that they were not fully satisfied with the security measures in place. Many felt that the school was not prepared for a proper response in the event of a shooting.
In a statement on Tuesday afternoon, the school’s administration said school will remain closed for the remainder of the week. “School will be closed for the rest of the week until Monday 4th February as we put things in place to ensure the security of all on campus,” the statement read.
James yesterday told reporters that on Tuesday, he and a team met with Minister of Education Nicolette Henry and her staff.
While he did not divulge much details of the meeting, James said, “…and we are currently engaged in a close collaboration dealing with security of all the main secondary schools in the city of Georgetown.”
