Vicksburg High School was evacuated this morning and streets around the school were closed following a bomb threat.
The bomb threat against VHS was phoned into Warren County E-911 at 9:53 a.m., said Jason Tatum, E-911 director.
Police, firefighters and emergency medical technicians began responding to the school at about 10 a.m. The building was evacuated shortly after the bomb threat was received, Vicksburg Warren School District Superintendent Chad Shealy said.
“The students are out of the building, and they are doing a sweep now,” Shealy said at about 10:30 a.m.
Shealy would not say where students had been relocated, but a Vicksburg Post staff member saw students at the base of a hill at Lee Street and Army Navy Drive before being moved into Memorial Stadium at Drummond Street and Stadium Drive after police did a sweep of the stadium, press box and adjacent locker rooms.
Faculty and staff members appeared to be re-entering the school at about 11:05 a.m.
Linda Jackson went to check on her son, Demarcus, at the school after seeing fire trucks headed toward VHS.
“We didn’t get a call or anything. I just happened to be at the beauty shop,” Jackson said.
“Nobody told me anything. I just happened to text my child,” she said.
Traffic around the school was at a standstill, and drivers were using private driveways to turn around.
Confederate Avenue was closed to traffic in both directions in front of the school. Army Navy Drive, which connects Confederate Avenue and Lee Street was closed. A section of Lee running north of the school was also closed.
Drummond Street was blocked at Polk Street, a block north of the high school.
The bomb threat is the second since Shealy took the reins of VSWD in October.
On Oct. 21, most schools in the district were evacuated after an anonymous 911 caller claimed to have planted a bomb in one of the district’s schools.
No arrests were made, and no bomb was found during the October threat.
In April 2013, Warren Central High School was evacuated after a bomb threat was called in. No bomb was found in that case either.
Phoning in a bomb threat is a felony which carries a prison sentence of up to 10 years.
Anyone with information is urged to call the Vicksburg Police Department at 601-636-2511, Warren County Sheriff’s office at 601-636-1761 or Central Mississippi Crime Stoppers at 601-355-8477.
Callers to Crime Stoppers remain anonymous and do not have to testify in court. Crime Stoppers offers a cash reward of up to $2,500 for information leading to the arrest of a felony suspect.