Jon Bleiweis, Carol Vaughn, and Vanessa Junkin

The Daily Times

A bomb threat through an automated message was made to multiple schools on Delmarva on Monday, Jan. 11, disrupting classes across the peninsula and frustrating parents.

The morning threat targeted schools in Sussex County and on the Lower Shore, though many schools as north as Hockessin, Delaware, and across the Bay Bridge in St. Mary's County also reported disruptions.

In Wicomico County, Sheriff's Office Capt. Babe Wilson said a threat made to Parkside High School on Monday remains under investigation. Wilson said the call has many similarities to other bomb threat calls made the same day in Maryland and Delaware.

Delaware State Police investigated bomb threats at Indian River High School, Seaford Middle School, H.B. DuPont Middle School in Hockessin and Caesar Rodney High School in Camden, according to Master Cpl. Gary Fournier. The threat came in the form of a robotic phone call, he said.

Nothing suspicious found

Investigations at all four schools are ongoing, but no suspicious items were found during school searches, Fournier said. All four schools resumed instruction once the searches — which lasted between 45 minutes and three hours — ended.

Parents of Indian River High School students received a call at about 10:21 a.m. saying students were evacuated to nearby John M. Clayton Elementary School. They were later told the school was declared safe to re-enter at 11:15 a.m.

Students at Seaford Middle School were evacuated to Seaford High School before returning to the middle school shortly after noon, according to the school district.

Investigations are also being conducted by Dover, Smyrna and Milford police departments for similar incidents that occurred at schools within their jurisdictions.

A bomb threat was made Monday morning concerning Nandua Middle School in Accomack County. No bomb was found after officers and a K-9 unit from Worcester County conducted a thorough search of the school.

​The school was immediately evacuated according to the protocol established in the school district's crisis management plan.

Eyewitnesses reported seeing students gathered outside the school in Onley, along with a large number of school buses.

All students at the middle school were taken by bus to nearby Nandua High School for their safety, according to a press release from the school district.

There were no threats Monday to any Somerset or Worcester county public schools, according to school officials.

There was a search of Parkside High School in Salisbury after the threat was made. That threat was determined not to be credible, and the school day continued, school system spokeswoman Tracy Sahler said.

"The Wicomico County Board of Education and Wicomico County Public Schools place the highest priority on the providing a safe learning environment, and appreciate the support of the Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office in this effort," part of a Wicomico County public schools statement read.

Parkside Principal Kimberly Pinhey informed parents and guardians of the incident in a SchoolMessenger on Monday afternoon:

“This morning we received a robotic call to our main office indicating there was a bomb in the building. Police were notified immediately and standard procedures were followed. Although it was determined that this was a non-credible threat, the building and grounds were searched systematically in cooperation with the Wicomico County Sheriff’s Department and the Wicomico Board of Education to ensure our building continues to be safe and secure.

Please know that the Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office is continuing to investigate this situation and identify the person(s) responsible for the threat. Upon identification of the person(s) responsible the maximum penalty will be imposed by Wicomico County Board of Education and the Wicomico County Sheriff’s Department.

We are disheartened by this threat to the safety of our staff and students and the disruption of our school. We will continue to provide a safe place for our staff to work and our students to learn and grow. Thank you for your continued support of our efforts to accomplish this goal at Parkside."

Parent outrage

Still, some parents were unhappy about how the incident was handled.

On Facebook, Rusty Perdue wrote in a Facebook comment on The Daily Times story criticizing of the way Wicomico County public schools handled the situation. That comment had already garnered more than 20 likes in less than an hour:

"So you took it upon yourself to NOT tell the parents, NOT tell the students, NOT evacuate, NOT have a lockdown and NOT telling anyone until a 2:35pm robocall?!?! So who made that decision? You? Pinhey? Fredricksen? (sic) YOU do not make the decisions about what and where is safe for our kids, WE as parents do!!!"

Perdue found out about the bomb threat from Pinhey's robotic call at 2:35 p.m. while he was on the way to Parkside to pick up his daughter, who is a junior. He asked his daughter why she hadn't told him and found out that she didn't know about it, said Perdue, who lives in Willards.

"The kids were never told," Perdue said.

With the scary situations that have been happening across the country, he said he would have liked to have known about the bomb threat at the time it was issued, so he and other parents could have been given the option to pick up their children from school.

“You just can’t fool with that," he said.

Bomb threat at Nandua Middle School