A New Jersey teacher was arrested for making threats that led to school closures in Montclair, ensuring safety for students and staff.
The local school district decided to shut down for the day after police flagged a potential danger to students and staff. They later confirmed that the threat was handled.
The teacher, Amir Doctry, 45, was already on administrative leave when he allegedly made online threats to a staff member at Northeast Elementary School.
Police, along with school officials and the FBI, worked overnight to track down the source of the threats. They found Doctry in Philadelphia and arrested him around 8 a.m.
While they didn’t go into detail about the threats or why he was on leave, his LinkedIn shows he stopped teaching in the area in 2021.
Local police reassured everyone that there’s no ongoing danger and increased patrols around the schools just to be safe. The school board emphasized that student and staff safety is their top priority.
Interim superintendent Damen Cooper acknowledged the last-minute closure might have caused some inconvenience but stressed that safety comes first.
Even after Doctry’s arrest, the schools stayed closed. Montclair’s mayor called the closure a precaution, noting there was no immediate threat.
Montclair is a nice town, about a half-hour from New York City, and has around 40,000 residents, including some well-known faces like Stephen Colbert and Aaron Rodgers.
