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Students were evacuated from the Bellefonte Area High School Wednesday morning, after police received a threatening phone call, one of several across the state police are saying are not credible, according to local and state police.
According to Bellefonte police, a man called the threat into their office, claiming that multiple students had been shot in a high school bathroom. Police said that was hoax.
Bellefonte Borough Chief of Police Shawn Weaver said about 70 police officers from about 15 different agencies responded to the threat. It took about an hour and a half to clear the building.
"I'm pleased to say there was no actual threat," Weaver said. "It wasn't known at the time that there was no actual threat."
He said teachers, staff and students did a great job following lock down protocol.
"When we were doing the initial search — I was there helping — out of every door we checked we did not see one student. We did not find one door unlocked. And I knew there had to have been students in all those doors we checked. Lights were out. It was textbook,” Weaver said.
Bellefonte Area School District Superintendent Tammie Burnaford said they’d brought in counselors from across the county to work with students as they waited for parents to come get them or to be released by the school.
“It’s been a pretty traumatic day for some of our kids, so we’ve decided to send them home, or let them go home, for the day,” Burnaford said.
Burnaford said the other schools in the district were sheltered in place during the event and they were letting those students go for the day too. She said they were planning to have schools open as usual on Thursday.
In a news release, the Pennsylvania State Police say they are "investigating a series of phone calls made to 911 centers about schools across the Commonwealth involving threats of an active shooter situation or bomb threat."
Police said the claims in all the calls were found to be false, and of the schools that were threatened were either cleared or are in the process of being cleared. The calls were made to several schools in different counties and had similar content.
According to state police, all of the claims in the calls have been determined to be false.
The State College Area School District administration sent an email saying that after the threat to the Bellefonte Area High School the State College Area School District is "working on increasing police presence at all district buildings for the remainder of the day. Elementary students will remain inside for recess today and physical education classes will remain inside, as well. Other than these precautions, all school operations will run as normal."
A post on the Mifflin County School District website says that, “Nationwide there are false computer generated 911 calls being sent claiming that specific schools are involved with an Active Shooter Event. All these calls have been unfounded and considered a hoax.”
The Mifflin County School District did not receive the call.
Weaver said he's planning an after-action review to see what they might do better next time.
"We always learn from these,” Weaver said. “And tomorrow or the next day, we will sit down with every agency that was involved, including the school district."
This story is developing. Check back for updates.
