A bomb threat at Smithville Elementary disrupted the school day Friday forcing administrators to have the approximately 570 students and staff bused to Northside Elementary School where they spent the remainder of the day. No one was injured and no explosives were found.
Central dispatch received a call from the school’s SRO reporting the incident at 10:07 a.m.
(VIDEO BELOW SHOWS SCHOOL BUSES ARRIVING TO PICK UP STUDENTS AT SMITHVILLE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TO TRANSPORT THEM TO NORTHSIDE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AFTER SES RECEIVED A BOMB THREAT FRIDAY MORNING)
Once the automated call reporting the threat was received at the school, administrators sprung into action to begin evacuation of the building.
“I received a telephone call from Smithville Elementary School that they had received a call that an explosive device was on the school premises. At that point, Attendance Supervisor Joey Reeder and I went to the school. By the time I arrived, Principal Julie Vincent and Assistant Principal Anita Puckett had evacuated the school building. At that point I talked with the administrators and we decided to evacuate the students from Smithville Elementary to Northside Elementary and that’s where we decided to keep them for the rest of the day,” said Director of Schools Patrick Cripps.
Only seven and a half minutes elapsed between the time Cripps placed a call to Transportation Supervisor Jimmy Sprague to get buses in route until the last child was removed from Smithville Elementary. Cripps credited Sprague and the bus drivers for their quick response.
Members of the Smithville Police and Fire Departments also quickly converged on the scene along with the Sheriff’s Department and DeKalb EMS.
Authorities conducted a walk through of the school but found nothing suspicious. Bomb sniffing dogs from outside the county were unavailable Friday morning because of similar bomb threats in other mid-state counties but, according to Cripps, dogs are expected to be brought in to do a sweep of the SES building either Friday night or Saturday morning.
Cripps expressed his appreciation to administrators, staff, and the community for their response to the crisis. “It’s a call you never want to get but everything fell into place. Everybody just pulled together. The administration, faculty, and staff at Smithville Elementary and Northside, the school bus garage, the sheriff’s department, Smithville Police Department, and Smithville Fire Department. I just want to say thank you for all the help that you gave. I also want to thank the students. It was an emotional time for them. The teachers did a great job too keeping them (students) calm. And I’d like to thank the parents for their cooperation. I was told that once students arrived at Northside we had parents helping get those children off the buses with umbrellas covering them from the rain. I want to thank everyone for what they did for our children. It was a whole group effort. The central office staff went down and helped both schools to get students and teachers in places where they needed to be. I would like to thank everyone for all the cooperation and help,” concluded Cripps.