A map and several other items found inside a high school freshman’s backpack Monday morning may result in charges for the 15-year-old.
Students at Daniel Boone High School were released at noon Monday following what leaders perceived to be a bomb threat.
“We evacuated students immediately based on (our) procedure,” said Washington County Director of Schools Ron Dykes.
Bomb-sniffing dogs had to be called from out of the area to search the school. Since the dogs were hours away at the time of the threat, leaders were forced to dismiss students early.
According to Lt. Doug Gregg with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, the alleged threat was first brought to the attention of school leaders when a fellow student reported seeing the ninth grader with a map of the school.
“The map had X’s on it,” Gregg said. “And he apparently said, ‘That’s a map of the places we’re going to put bombs in the school.’ It had an evacuation route and everything.”
Around the same time, Gregg said another student reported finding a message written on a bathroom wall that stated, “The bomb is ticking.”
When leaders spoke to the teen, they discovered even more “troublesome” items in his backpack, Gregg said.
“He had some kind of circuit, a battery and an electronic buzzer,” he said. “It would seem more like a hoax device.”
The teen also had “disturbing” writings in his possession, Gregg noted.
He reportedly refused to say anything to police, instead requesting an attorney.
As of late Monday afternoon, police had not charged the juvenile with any crimes.
“We are still interviewing people,” Gregg said.
A police K9 from Bristol and its handler conducted a search of the school shortly after noon Monday.
“The dog didn’t alert to anything,” Gregg said. “The school was cleared.”______Earlier report from 11:56 a.m.A bomb threat at Daniel Boone High School has forced leaders to dismiss students at noon today.According to Washington County Director of Schools Ron Dykes, the bomb threat was discovered on the wall of a restroom at the high school "fairly early this morning.""We evacuated students immediately based on (our) procedure," Dykes said. Investigators with the Washington County Sheriff's Office called in bomb-sniffing dogs, however the dogs were not going to be able to get to the scene at least until 1:30 p.m."We learned at 11:30 a.m. that it was going to be at least two more hours for them to get here to even determine if the building was clear," Dykes said, adding that is when leaders decided to dismiss students at noon.Parents can pick up their children at the school and buses will be running their normal routes, Dykes said."We always take these threats seriously," Dykes added. "But we certainly hope it is not (a legitimate threat)."