HURRICANE, W.Va. — For a second straight day, students at Hurricane High School were placed on lockdown Tuesday morning amid reports of a potential threat at the school.
Monday, parents were advised in a robo-call from the county board of education of the threat which was under investigation. The student in question was identified and police made contact with the individual and his parents. The case remains under investigation.
However Tuesday, a large police response to the school set off fears around the community.
“We had what we considered a credible threat yesterday, but this morning we received a 9-1-1 call about a possible firearm inside Hurricane High School,” said Putnam County Sheriff Bobby Eggleton.
The school was placed on lockdown immediately, which is standard procedure, while sheriff’s deputies and Hurricane Police quickly responded. According to Eggleton the building was searched from one end to the other and no weapons or suspicious individuals were located.
Eggleton said the individual identified in Monday’s incident was not at school Tuesday.
“We believed the two incidents were connected just because of the rumor mill. Yesterday was a credible threat, today, we had to take it as a credible threat because somebody made a call into 9-1-1,” the Sheriff explained.
The aftermath of the emergency caused as much furor as the emergency itself. Police were forced to deal with worried parents who showed up at the school.
“Of course parents always get concerned, but it does no good to come to the school. I know being a parent myself you want to be there for your kids, but you’re not going to be able to get close to them. People need to relax a little bit and let law enforcement do their job before they come to the school,” he said.