Bomb threat caused 'community lockdown' of three Wake County schools, police say

Heritage High, Heritage Middle and Heritage Elementary schools were placed on lockdown because of a bomb threat, a Wake Forest police said on Tuesday.

School officials received a phone call at about 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday from a person outside of the school who said a bomb would be delivered to Heritage Middle School at a specific time in the afternoon.

No one had been arrested or charged in connection with the threat as of Tuesday afternoon, police said.

The schools were placed on a "code yellow" lockdown, during which all doors were locked and no one was allowed in or out of school buildings.

School leaders contacted law enforcement and Wake County Public School System security. Officials provided additional security to all three schools while beginning an investigation.

During the preliminary investigation, police found no credible evidence that an explosive device was already planted on the school campus, town officials said.

Explosive-detection dogs were seen heading into Heritage Middle School on Tuesday and police said the dogs would search all three schools.

The schools took additional precautions for students being picked up on Tuesday, limiting the number of vehicles near the schools, requiring parents to pick up any students who normally walk to school and for parents to show photo ID to a Wake Forest police officer before picking up their students.

Additional security, including an increased law enforcement presence at all three schools, will continue on Wednesday. Additional patrols also will take place at other Wake Forest schools, police said on Tuesday.

Earlier, the Wake County Public School System said Heritage High and Heritage Middle were on lockdown because of a specific threat.

"We locked down both schools — the high school and the middle school — because it's that specific of a threat," said schools spokeswoman Lisa Luten.

She did not disclose the nature of the threat but said it came about 8:30 Tuesday morning.

Wake Forest spokesman Bill Crabtree said it was a "community lockdown."

"In a community lockdown, all exterior doors of the school are locked and no one is allowed to enter or exit the building until an all-clear announcement is received from police," he said. "The school operates 'business as usual' with the exception of no outside activities."

The lockdown was lifted at Heritage High School around 3 p.m. and has since been lifted at Heritage Middle and Elementary Schools.

Anyone with information concerning the case is asked to call the Wake Forest Police Department at 919-554-6150. You can remain anonymous.

This story was originally published March 20, 2018 at 5:34 PM with the headline "Bomb threat caused 'community lockdown' of three Wake County schools, police say."