Martinsville and Rockbridge County high schools received computer-generated messages Tuesday, saying there was a bomb inside their school.
Martinsville police told us there were eight other schools across the state that received the same recorded message.
“I do appreciate everybody’s response yesterday. It was a top-notch response,” TJ Slaughter, director of school safety for Martinsville City school division said.
Martinsville Police, Martinsville Fire, Henry County K9-unit, public works and school leaders were all involved in keeping student safety a priority.
We asked Virginia State Police about their involvement, and they said:
“State police is aware of seven occurring across the Commonwealth yesterday (There is no state law that requires local law enforcement or school districts to report threats to state police) and are aware of several more happening today and in other states.”
“We are sitting here clearing a building knowing this is probably a hoax so yeah it could lead to somebody else’s life being put in danger,” Slaughter said.
District officials said the safety plan that is in place went smoothly. Students were outside of the building for only an hour and a half while law enforcement searched for the potential bomb.
“I was really proud of our high school staff,” Slaughter said. “They did a great job. our central office folks came and helped out as well. We don’t see any need to change what we are doing. our plan worked yesterday, so we will continue forward with what we have.”
We have reached out to police to see if anyone has been charged and will update you when we have that information.