Call for calm after panic over ‘lurker’

POLICE have called for calm, saying messages on social media about suspicious people lurking around a Port Elizabeth school have been exaggerated.

They have, however, urged schools to look out for any suspicious people on their premises.

A parent reported suspicious people parked in a car outside a Newton Park school at about 7.30am yesterday.

Yesterday afternoon, social media groups went viral with messages asking parents and teachers to be extra-vigilant.

By midday, several schools had sent SMS alerts to parents, asking them to be cautious.

In one message, a woman claiming to be a parent said children were being kidnapped for ransom while another said men were talking to children outside the school.

Police spokeswoman Colonel Priscilla Naidu said the alert had been sent out after the parent spotted the car outside the school in Newton Park.

“After a while, the parent became suspicious and went up to the man,” she said.

“[He] claimed to be waiting for someone and provided a name.

“The parent [said] there was nobody by that name at the school.

“The man then drove off and the parent followed him. The parent, however, lost the vehicle and subsequently alerted the police.”

Naidu said that as a precaution, the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences unit had phoned the principal.

“Somehow, this then went viral and the details of the story kept changing via social media sites.”