SAN BENITO — A bomb threat at a local middle school prompted an evacuation yesterday morning.
At approximately 7:45 a.m., San Benito Riverside Middle School received an anonymous phone call. The person on the line made a “bomb threat.”
San Benito CISD school and police personnel immediately placed the campus on a “code black” and evacuated Riverside Middle School prior to the start of the day yesterday morning.
This was done to allow school police officers and law enforcement personnel to conduct an investigation involving the threat placed to the school.
The building was declared safe at approximately 8:45 a.m. Students and staff were deemed safe and classes were back to normal.
Officers will continue to investigate.
District officials encourage anyone with information about this incident to call local Crime Stoppers at 361-2125.
All calls are kept anonymous and confidential.
Students were sent home with a letter for parents explaining the situation and parents were also notified by the district automated messaging system of the situation.
“San Benito CISD and Riverside Middle School take matters like this very seriously and as such, we are cooperating with school officials, school district police and local law enforcement while they investigate this incident,” stated the letter.
San Benito school district is no stranger to threats that result in the lockdown or evacuation of its schools.
Last year, around the same time, the whole district was placed in lockdown because of threats made against the police and schools.
During a press conference that same day, Police Chief Martin Morales said the department received a call about 9 a.m. and police identified a former San Benito man as a “person of interest.”
Police said they were looking for a former resident in connection with the threat received that morning.
Morales said the caller threatened to shoot schools and law enforcement, but that the threat was directed more toward police.
That case was referred to the district attorney’s office.
Police are still investigating yesterday’s incident.
