St. Lucie County - Wednesday May 25, 2022: The massacre of students at a Texas elementary school Tuesday prompted stepped up patrols at schools in St. Lucie County Wednesday.
The St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office increased patrols around schools throughout the county and the Port St. Lucie Police Department went as far as stationing patrol cars and officers outside the schools during the morning and afternoon.
“We immediately put plans in place last night to increase our presence at the schools, just as a precaution," said Richard Del Toro, Assistant Chief of the Port St. Lucie Police. "There is no specific threat to our area, but we felt it was crucial to reassure parents and students that security is our top priority.”
"The Sheriff’s Office increased their presence in the schools outside of our city in Fort Pierce and the County," said Del Toro. "We primarily focused on the city of Port St. Lucie, so every elementary school, every middle school, including the private schools.”
The extra patrols were in addition to the SRO officers and deputies already stationed at county schools. They were deployed following the February 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. Parkland is not too far away from Port St. Lucie and the Tuesday’s massacre in Texas was an unwelcome reminder.
“It was a very emotional day for a lot of people across the nation, including our students and parents. It was just horrific. Obviously our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and families. We’ll be praying for them. It’s a time hopefully everyone can come together and put some differences aside and really focus on what the issues are here.”
Parkland, Buffalo and now Uvalde remind us all, we live in a world now where the threat is real. “These kids are growing up in a totally different environment, totally different country than you and I grew up in. Unfortunately the threat of an active shooter is there. We’re just thankful it never, never happened here. We pray that it never does.”