Terrified parents make hard choices in face of threat to children’s safety

NERVOUS parents yesterday faced a terrifying choice about whether to take their children to school after the Washington sniper warned that youngsters were “not safe anywhere, at any time”.

Classroom doors were bolted shut and shades covered windows as pupils were kept indoors until going home following the chilling threat which was made public on Tuesday.

Armed police also guarded many of the schools in the Washington metropolitan area, which serves 700,000 pupils.