String of bomb threats force Delaware school evacuations

Brittany Horn, The News Journal 8:08 p.m. EST January 11, 2016

State police are investigating multiple bomb threats made at schools around the state, including a threat made at Henry B. du Pont Middle School Monday morning. 1/11/16

Delaware State Police, which is leading the majority of the investigations in coordination with local police departments, said the threats under its jurisdiction spanned from Hockessin to Seaford and occurred between 9:30 a.m. and 10 a.m. Monday. Affected schools included H.B. du Pont Middle School, Caesar Rodney High School, Indian River High School and Seaford Middle School, Master Cpl. Gary E. Fournier said.

In each instance, the school office received a "robotic style or computer generated voice phone call" with the threat, prompting an evacuation of each school, Fournier said. Administrative searches were then conducted with the help of police K-9 officers, but nothing suspicious or out of the ordinary was found, he said.

Mark Hoffman, public information officer for Dover police, confirmed that the threats were automated phone calls received by schools across the state.

Students then returned to those schools searched by state police and resumed normal activities, Fournier said. Evacuations lasted between 45 minutes and three hours, he said.

Dover High School, Smyrna Elementary School and Lulu M. Ross Elementary School also received threats, according to police. The threats continued throughout the day. Dover High School dismissed students early because of the evacuation and the severe cold temperatures.

These investigations were handled by the school's respective police departments, Fournier said.

The state Department of Homeland Security referred questions on the investigation to state police.

Officers swept Dover High School as part of the department's policy when a bomb threat is received, Hoffman said. He said the threat matched those at other schools in New Castle and Sussex counties reported earlier.

The police department takes all threats seriously, Hoffman said, though he noted that these threats are not uncommon or unprecedented. The department deploys officers and K-9 officers to the scene to fully investigate each threat, he said.

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Various media outlets in Maryland and Virginia reported similar threats Monday to districts in Bel Air, Lexington Park and Westminster, Maryland, as well as Gainesville, Virginia.

Parents like Steve Barry were shaken up by the threats. Barry's children attend Smyrna Elementary, which was evacuated following a threat at about 9:30 a.m. Monday.

Barry said he received a recorded phone call at about 10:30 a.m. notifying parents of the threat and evacuation plan, which was later posted on the district's website. Barry is concerned by the way the school district and state are handling the threats, saying they aren't taking them seriously.

"It's absolutely ridiculous the way this is being handled," Barry said. "With all the gun talk and everything else going on with the government, there's a lot more to be concerned with than just these bomb threats."

Barry said the school endangered his children by moving them all into the same school within walking distance of the evacuated elementary school. He pulled all three of his kids from school Monday.

Dover parent Bethany Czepukaitis said she was happy the high school sent her son home. Her son Zachary, a freshman, told his mother when he got home that he was in the cafeteria when police officers ran into the room. They told students they needed to get outside because there was a bomb threat, and they quickly moved kids out to the football field, she said.

As police officers swept the building multiple times, kids were left huddling on bleachers, which prompted the school to send students home early, Czepukaitis said.

"It's scary when you hear that your kid is away from you and you want to go get them," she said. "I knew that the kids were in good hands and that the school was taking the precautions that they needed to do."

The Federal Bureau of Investigation may become involved depending on a number of factors surrounding the threats, said spokesman Andrew Ames. Factors like how the threat was received, the type of danger threatened and the credibility behind the threats are all taken into account, he said.

Ames would not confirm whether the FBI was working with Delaware law enforcement.