Port Royal Y locked down after threat to preschool. FBI and police investigating

A threat at the Wardle Family YMCA in Port Royal late Friday morning prompted an emergency lockdown, according to official sources.

Police notified the YMCA at 1801 Richmond Ave. that there was a threat made to the preschool, Olga Maxley, the YMCA’s chief financial officer, told the Beaufort Gazette and Island Packet at 11:45 a.m. when police were on the scene.

Children and other members were safely evacuated from the building.

“The kids were released to their parents and everybody is safe,” Maxley said.

During the lockdown, members in the building could leave but nobody was allowed to enter “until it is safe to do so,” according to a Facebook post. Parents of children enrolled in preschool and afterschool programs were notified immediately.

The YMCA has a pool and exercise equipment and a broad range of programs and activities including a preschool program.

Parents with enrolled children were asked to contact the front desk at 843-522-9622.

The YMCA said at 1:15 p.m. that the facility will remain closed until authorities deem it safe to re-open. The Y will be posting updates on Facebook.

Port Royal police said at 12:35 p.m. that they received correspondence regarding an unsubstantiated threat against the YMCA. As a result, the YMCA was notified of the information and extra patrols were initiated for the facility. The YMCA requested an officer to be on site while they dismissed their preschool students. The source of the information is still under investigation.

The YMCA said it was the FBI that contacted them about the “unsubstantiated threat” to the facility.

“Out of caution, the Y took the threat seriously, immediately going into an emergency lockdown to ensure the safety of their members and program participants,” the YMCA said in a statement.

It’s the second time a threat involving a Port Royal facility has been made this week.

Port Royal police increased their presence at Bridges Preparatory School Wednesday after a student made school shooting threats during an episode in the hallway the previous afternoon. That threat was found to be “low-level,” according to Gary McCulloch, chief executive officer of Bridges Preparatory School.