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Photo by Donita Clausen click image to enlarge

By FOSS FARRAR
Traveler Staff Writer

A bomb threat called in to South Haven High School around noon Wednesday turned out to be unfounded, the Sumner County sheriff said today. A criminal investigation is ongoing.

"It's an unfounded threat, but it's still against the law," Sheriff Gerald Gilkey said. "We're investigating this as a terroristic threat."

About 290 students and staff members were evacuated in an orderly manner, school officials and Gilkey said.

"The administration and faculty did a good job of getting the kids out safely," Gilkey said.

Bomb detection squad team members from McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita were called. They conducted a 3 1/2 hour search with a specially trained dog, but did not find explosives.

They searched the school complex and parking lot vehicles. Among the first searched were three school buses, Gilkey said. These later were used to transport students and staff.

School nurse Joyce Jordan described the evacuation.

"School officials had teachers, staff and students walk to a nearby field," school nurse Joyce Jordan said. "Then they walked a few blocks to the South Haven United Methodist Church," where they stayed until they were informed it was OK to return to the school.

They were not allowed back into the building or even into the parking lot to get their vehicles while the search continued, she said.

Officers from the sheriff's department were assisted in securing the school area during the search by the South Haven Fire Department, Sumner County Emergency Management and the Caldwell Fire Department, Gilkey said.

"We were able to establish a perimeter to check the outside of the building," he said.

Schools Superintendent John Showman said the evacuation occurred a little after 12:30 p.m. The bomb detection squad had cleared all vehicles in the parking lot by 5:40 p.m., he said.

After the search was over, school officials called parents to come get their children, Jordan said.

"Obviously in the climate we live in today, this incident is more serious than a prank or a joke; it's beyond that," Showman said. "Sad to say, we have to treat it as very serious. That's just the climate we live in today."

Showman said the school had returned to normal today.

Above: A bomb detection team member from McConnell Air Force Base, Wichita, searches for explosives Wednesday afternoon with the help of a specially trained dog in the South Haven School's parking lot.