Police seek link in bomb threats
While a connection has not been made between two Tuesday morning bomb threats occurring in schools less than 40 miles apart, a police official said communication has been initiated between investigating agencies.
“We have had contact with Uniontown,” said Washington police Chief Robert Wilson.
A short time after a threat was called into Laurel Highlands Middle School, a threat was received about 10 a.m. by the Washington Park School principal, prompting officials to evacuate all 1,500 district students.
Similarly, more than a dozen schools in Maryland, Virginia and Delaware received bomb threats Monday and Tuesday, with the caller described as a recorded “robocall.”
Initial reports indicated the threat to Washington Park was called in through a voice mail, but Superintendent Dr. Roberta DiLorenzo said an office worker answered the call and handed it off to the nearby principal.
DiLorenzo said it was a male voice, but it wasn’t clear if the call was live or recorded.
“The principal who took call said the voice sounded muffled, but she couldn’t determine that it was a person,” DiLorenzo said.
As trained to do when a threat comes over the phone, the principal asked the caller questions, but received no answers.
School resource officer Todd Foreman is handling the investigation.
DiLorenzo said she has had ongoing contact with Foreman, but there were no updates.
“We contacted the phone company to try to get the (phone) number, but we haven’t gotten any news about anything,” she said.
The Region 13 Task Force, a group that assists local responders, was notified of the threat Tuesday and brought bomb-sniffing dogs to search the school. According to officials, nothing was found.
State police in Uniontown are handling the Laurel Highland bomb threat. A phone call seeking information was not returned.