Students and staff at Central High School in Hernando County were on lockdown due to a second bomb threat called in to 911 on Wednesday. This is the fourth bomb threat to the school in the past three days.
The Hernando County Sheriff's Office lifted the lockdown, but stated that all students and staff "will remain on a modified 'sheltered in place' plan until further notice."
"They were put on another lockdown, the second for today so he was really scared and said please come get me," said Stacey Chinchilla a concerned parent who picked up her son after the 4th bomb threat.
Hernando County Sheriff Al Nienhuis says the threatening calls are coming into the sheriff’s office through 9-1-1 or the non-emergency line. But they’re having trouble tracing the caller.
"Technology can be a tremendous help in these situations, it can also be a little bit of a burden and slow us down a little bit. We’re reaching out to our partners both at the federal and state level to see if they can get us any investigative assistance," said Nienhuis.
The sheriff is asking anyone with information about who may be doing this to contact the sheriff’s office.
The lockdown at CHS has been lifted however students and staff will remain on a modified 'sheltered in place' plan until further notice.
Lunch procedures for all students is underway.Law enforcement remain on campus.
— Hernando Schools (@HernandoSchools) March 21, 2018
10:42 am: Currently Central High School and Endeavor are in lock-down due to another bomb threat called in to 911. All students and staff are safe and sheltering in place. Law enforcement and school administration are conducting full sweep of the campus at this time.
— Hernando Schools (@HernandoSchools) March 21, 2018
The first bomb threat was around 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday. Students and staff were evacuated to the football field in response to the bomb threat. The Hernando County Sheriff's Office responded to the scene and gave the all clear.
Law Enforcement has issued an ALL CLEAR for Central High School and Endeavor.
Students and staff are returning to class at this time.
— Hernando Schools (@HernandoSchools) March 21, 2018
On Monday and Tuesday, students and staff were evacuated to West Hernando Middle School due to similar bomb threats.
Deputies blocked the Ken Austin Parkway to all traffic on Tuesday morning while they conducted their investigation. As of 9:13 a.m. the Ken Austin Parkway has been opened from the Grove Road side.
"They’re terrified and of course it has me very shaken up right now," said Tanika Slowden, a concerned parent.
Parent Jamie Henry says she’s frustrated the school didn’t notify parents sooner and she had to find out from her children.
"We hear it from our children frantically calling us and FaceTiming saying 'Mom, we’re being evacuated, its a bomb threat' but yet we hear nothing from the school," said Henry.
Terri Harrison says after Monday's bomb threat she promised her South Korean foreign exchange student that she could go back to school without fear, she says she was wrong.
"She’s here to learn about American culture. What is she learning?" said Harrison
No bomb was found again. Hernando County Sheriff Al Nienhuis says investigators are still following leads about who is calling in the threats.
"It puts citizens lives in danger, all because someone thinks its funny and it is far from funny. It's expensive and a disruption to those kids who want to learn." said Sheriff Nienhuis.
