School bomb threat under investigation

The call came in to Rochelle Middle School’s main line at 9:22 a.m.

The secretary answered.

“A man asked for a specific student then made the comment he was going to ‘blow up the building,’ ” said Kinston Department of Public Safety Patrol Cmdr. Tim Woolard.

The man hung up and called back seconds later.

“Did you get it?” Woolard said the caller asked the secretary. “Get the kids out of the building.”

Rochelle Middle School Principal Nicola Harvey II immediately pulled the fire alarm and within minutes, all of the school’s 500 students evacuated, puzzled by the emergency.

“Is there a gunman inside?” one student asked.

“No, it’s a bomb threat,” another answered.

Two fire truck crews and as many as seven patrol officers and specially-trained investigators from the KDPS swarmed the building — splitting the school into “quadrants” with the help of four school custodians to look for “anything out of the ordinary,” Woolard said.

They found no signs of strange activity in any of the classrooms, hallways, offices, stairwells, student lockers or in the cafeteria or auditorium, Harvey said.

The bomb threat turned out to be a hoax.

The search is not over, though, Woolard said.

The case has been turned over to the KDPS’ Investigations Division for a detective to hunt down the prankster responsible for the malicious act.

“Charges may be pending,” Woolard said.

North Carolina criminal statutes lists a “false bomb report to a public building” as a felony punishable by up to 44 months in prison, but charges can range as low as a misdemeanor, depending on the suspect’s age and the results of the investigation, a Lenoir County magistrate told The Free Press.

Woolard said he knows which student the caller requested, but declined to release the child’s name, citing juvenile confidentiality laws and an “active” investigation. However, he said the bomb threat is not believed to be an act of revenge targeted at the child identified by the caller.

Harvey said the caller, who reportedly remained on the line with the secretary for close to 30 seconds during each call, never said where the bomb was in the school, nor did he mention at any time when it may detonate.

Students and staff remained outside for 30 minutes, while the fire alarm could be heard for blocks for half of the evacuation. Around 10 a.m., they were allowed back inside the school.

“They did not know it was a bomb threat. They thought it was just another drill,” Harvey said of the student body, evacuated by staff Monday to conduct the school’s monthly fire drill.

Harvey added, “The kids did a great job listening to instructions and our teachers and staff who did an outstanding job leading the evacuation.”

Lenoir County Schools Assistant Superintendent Diane Lynch was on site to help police investigate and help Harvey with his first bomb threat in his four years as principal.

She said she was impressed by how smooth the evacuation went.

“It was very well practiced and nicely run by the staff and students,” Lynch said. “Everyone did exactly what they were supposed to do.”

Woolard said this was the first bomb threat in Kinston in at least a year. He said threats pop up “every now and then” and urged to people to call 911 as soon as they do.

Harvey planned to send a ConnectEd message to students and staff to commend them on their excellent job in following procedure.

Wesley Brown can be reached at 252-559-1075 or wbrown@freedomenc.com. Follow him on Twitter @KinstonCrimeSpy.

Breakout:

Information sought

Anyone with information on the male caller who phoned in a bomb threat to Rochelle Middle School is asked to call the Kinston Department of Public Safety at 252-939-3160, its tips line at 252-939-4020 or anonymously by email at tips@ci.kinston.nc.us.