Burnet officials clear middle school for third time
FROM STAFF REPORTS
BURNET — Burnet school officials found themselves evacuating the Burnet Middle School again April 18 after finding another “non-specific” bomb threat in a bathroom.
The school was evacuated around 10:30 a.m.
Burnet Police Department and Burnet Fire Department units searched the entire campus but found no evidence of a device and allowed students and staff to return at approximately 11:40 a.m.
“Because our first concern was safely evacuating students, we were not able to send out a school messenger message to BMS parents directly during the evacuation,” stated a notice on the school district website from Superintendent Keith McBurnett.
This is the third bomb threat at the middle school campus in less than 10 days. The first one came April 10. Following the threat, units from the Texas Department of Public Safety and Austin Police Department Bomb Squad responded to assist in a search of the campus.
No device was found at that time and the students and staff were allowed to return to the campus the same day. It did, however, force the cancellation of all BMS-related after school activities.
The initial investigation led officers to an eighth-grade BMS student who allegedly confessed to the false bomb threat. He was charged with making a false report.
On April 14, BMS officials moved seventh- and eighth-grade students to the sixth-grade gymnasium in response to a second bomb threat.
Again, a sweep of the campus turned up no device and students and staff were allowed to return to class around 3 p.m.
Anybody with information on any of these threats should contact the Burnet Police Department at (512) 756-6404 or the Hill Country Area Crime Stoppers at 1-866-756-8477.
editor@thepicayune.com