A threatening phone call locked down La Pietra – Hawaii School for Girls on the slopes of Diamond Head on Thursday morning, sending Honolulu police officers to secure the small campus before an all-clear was issued roughly 96 minutes later. School officials say the threat involved a potential act of violence on campus, prompting an immediate call to police and the activation of emergency procedures.
According to KITV / Island News, Honolulu Police Department officers responded to the campus at 7:54 a.m. after the school reported the threatening call, and officers remained on scene securing the grounds while the situation was assessed. Officials issued the all-clear at 9:30 a.m., according to the same report. The outlet noted that no further information had been released about the caller or the nature of the threat as of publication.
A Historic Campus on Lockdown
La Pietra sits at 2933 Poni Moi Road, occupying the former Dillingham Estate, a property designed by architect David Adler in the style of an Italian villa in Florence, according to Wikipedia. The school acquired the estate in 1969 and has operated there ever since. Founded in 1964 by Lorraine Cooke, La Pietra is a private girls' school serving students in grades 6 through 12.
La Pietra has a 7:1 student-to-teacher ratio.
Emergency Procedures
School officials activated emergency procedures after the threat was reported.
The threatening call prompted police to respond to campus.
Other Hawai‘i School Lockdowns
Earlier this month, four Kailua public and private schools were placed under precautionary lockdowns while Honolulu police searched a nearby neighborhood for an armed burglary suspect, as Hoodline previously reported.
The La Pietra lockdown and the recent Kailua school lockdowns illustrate emergency responses to reported threats at schools in Hawai‘i.
Unanswered Questions
The caller's identity and the nature of the threat had not been released.
