Valdosta school gets “all-clear” after bomb threat

Published 12:11 pm Wednesday, November 6, 2019

VALDOSTA — An elementary school in Valdosta has been given the “all-clear” after being evacuated following a bomb threat this morning, according to a Valdosta City Schools statement. 

“Nothing was found as a threat on campus; however, the safety of our students, faculty and staff is always the first priority,” said Jennifer Steedley, spokeswoman for the Valdosta school system.

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The threat was delivered to W.G. Nunn Elementary School on Lakeland Avenue around 7:45 a.m., the statement said.

As soon as the threat was received, authorities were alerted and brought on scene. First responders are sweeping the campus. All students were evacuated until the completion of the sweep and are accounted for, the statement said.

Personnel from Moody Air Force Base were sent to the school, said Steedley. In the past, airmen and bomb-sniffing dogs from the base have assisted with bomb threats at local schools.

Parents who want to check out their children should report to the main office of the school and follow normal check-out procedures.  

At 10:45 a.m., parents and other family members were gathering around a stop sign across the road from the school, waiting for word as police and other emergency personnel worked. Children could be seen filling the yards outside the school buildings.

Kusheka Jackson, who has nieces and nephews in the school, was on the scene. She said she had been there since 8 a.m. after neighbors told her about the bomb threat after reading about it on Facebook.

“I saw the police go in and the (Moody AFB) people go in with a bomb dog,” she said.

Another woman in the crowd said she hadn’t been contacted by the school system via smartphone until 10 a.m.

“Valdosta City Schools takes all threats very seriously. Each will be thoroughly investigated as the safety of our students, faculty and staff is always the first priority,” the school system’s statement said.