The “Water Gun” Incident
On May 8, 2023, at the very tail-end of the school year, there was a shelter-in-place that everyone shrugged off as just a drill, but this was far from the truth. In reality, that same day, there was a call made to the Fairfield Police Department at 11:37 a.m. The caller told the police that they saw two young people sitting in the Wawa parking lot, and he thought he saw them pass back a handgun to one another. The police got to the location very quickly, but they were too late, and the vehicle was gone. The police figured out that the vehicle was registered in Bergen County, and they quickly began searching the location.
Officer Frank Patierno found the vehicle in the West Essex High School parking lot, turned off, with no one inside. The North Caldwell Police were notified about everything that was known at that point, and they immediately contacted the West Essex administration. This made West Essex put both the high school and middle school into lockdown mode until everything was clear.
Police from North Caldwell, Fairfield, Roseland and Essex Fells reported to the schools. There were four students who were taken out of class and investigated for having some connection with the vehicle, and were put into custody. One was cleared, but the other three were sent to the headquarters for further questioning. Then, the school went into a shelter-in-place.
The gun ended up just being a water pistol used for “Senior Assassin,” which is a last-man-standing game seniors play toward the end of the school year. While the situation ended up being a false alarm, it was still scary since the water gun resembled a real weapon.
The shelter-in-place event was particularly frightening for many students since it was the first real one since before the pandemic. It lasted an extremely long time and scared students, teachers, other employees and even parents. It had a lasting impact and was a major controversy, especially with students getting taken into custody.. This was arguably the most notable West Essex incident in the last five years. It was also very impactful on the Senior Assassin event, as they were forced to adopt stricter restrictions as a result. Ultimately, it highlighted the scary reality for many American schools in this day and age.
The Swatting
On Feb. 4, 2025, there was a swatting that took place from the lunch period into period four. It all stemmed from a call made to the police at 11:20 a.m. This led to a complete lockdown, which wasn’t too out of left field for the students after drills in the past, especially the water gun incident.
Twenty minutes after the first report, parents were notified that it was a false incident. Still, the lockdown lasted around an hour. After the lockdown ended, school continued as if it were a normal day, as students were told to attend their next period and finish the day of classes. Despite the fact that students were genuinely fearful during this episode, the casual attitude from West Essex made it seem like this was a “normal” occurrence. This shows how frequent lockdowns and incidents have become, not just in West Essex, but all over the country.
These incidents have confirmed many things, but mainly the dangers of going to school in this modern age. Clearly, nobody is safe, and there can only be so many innocent mishaps until there is truly a state of emergency. The right steps must be taken to avoid disaster.
This issue has made students, parents and teachers very worried and paranoid across the country. The problem has gotten worse with time, and school environments have begun to feel more unsafe than ever. While it is certainly a difficult problem to tackle and prevent, something still must be done. For instance, having more police officers present at West Essex has been a major positive as it has made everyone feel more comfortable.
