Woodbridge Installs High School Metal Detectors After Teen Brought Gun
WOODBRIDGE, NJ — After a 17-year-old teenage boy brought a loaded gun into Woodbridge High School last week, the Woodbridge school district said it will now install metal detectors at the doors of all three high schools.
This was announced by schools superintendent Joe Massimino in
"We have met with vendors to review products, visited other districts to observe their procedures and researched items for both efficiency and cost," said Massimino. "The plan was to allocate funding for this project in the 2025-2026 school year beginning this July."
But the devices will be installed much sooner than that; they will likely now be installed at all high school entrances/exits this spring.
"Our school district has already placed an order for delivery where they will be immediately deployed to each of our three high schools," said Massimino last week. "Our coordinator of security, along with our building administrators and security personnel, will be meeting to discuss the logistics so that a plan can be shared with the community prior to installation."
These will be metal detectors students and staff have to walk through. Only the three Woodbridge high schools will be getting them; they will not be installed in the district's middle or elementary schools.
The Woodbridge school district has already been using metal detectors at high school athletic events, such as football games this past fall.
"As a parent, I share your frustration in the need to have a weapons detection system in our schools," Massimino added. "However, I, along with the Board of Education, also recognize that student and staff safety must remain our top priority and we are willing to take whatever steps are necessary."
The teen who brought the loaded gun had sent threatening text messages to another teen boy on Monday night. That teen reported the texts to Woodbridge High school administration first thing Tuesday morning. Administrators and school security searched the student's items, and a loaded firearm was found in his possession. Woodbridge Police were called to the high school at 8:07 a.m. last Tueday; seized the firearm and took the 17-year-old into custody. He was charged with acts of juvenile delinquency for offenses which if committed by an adult would constitute illegal weapons offenses, terroristic threats, possession of a firearm on school property and possession of a ghost gun.
