Wednesday, January 24, 2001

Bomb threat empties schools

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com

All 24 of Fayette County's public schools were evacuated yesterday morning in response to an anonymous bomb threat.

The buildings were searched by administrators and custodians before students were let back in, said school spokeswoman Melinda Berry-Dreisbach. No explosive devices or other suspicious material was found, she said.

None of the 19,620 students in the system were sent home as a result of the threat, she added.

Fayette County 911 received a call stating there was a bomb on the property of one of the schools, but the caller refused to identify which school, Berry-Dreisbach said.

The caller was a young male, Berry-Dreisbach confirmed. The school system and law enforcement authorities are attempting to determine who the caller was, although filing any charges will likely be left up to the district attorney's office, she said. Just after noon yesterday, there was no indication who the caller might have been, she added.

When school system officials learned of the threat, each school was notified to evacuate on its "code blue" plan, Berry-Dreisbach said. She estimated that the children were outside approximately one-half hour, although that time depended on the size of the school.

"It was very swift and quick," she said, adding that no one was hurt while students filed out of the schools.

The evacuations were performed according to an evacuation plan that was approved by the state of Georgia, Dreisbach said.

Law enforcement officials responded to stand by and assist in the sweeps when necessary, Berry-Dreisbach said. Emergency crews also stood by just in case their assistance was needed.

Administrators and custodians were used for the sweeps since law enforcement officers couldn't be expected to respond to each school, Berry-Dreisbach said.