Over 700 students absent following gunman threat at Robertsdale High
By Lacey Beasley
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ROBERTSDALE, Alabama (WALA) — Over half of Robertsdale High School students did not show up Wednesday following a school threat.
Out of roughly 1200 students, 740 were out, according to the Baldwin County School System.
“The call came in from a blocked number, and when the representative talked to the subject on the phone, a threat was uttered to shoot up the school,” said Lieutenant Paul Overstreet with Robertsdale Police.
Robertsdale High School was put on a soft lockdown Tuesday for several hours. Overstreet said an administrator picked up the call from the front office around 9 a.m., and they suspected the caller to be a man.
Police believed the threat was bogus.
“The intent of this action was to cause chaos and cause disruption,” Overstreet said. “There was no evidence found or no persons found who could have carried out this threat. It leads me to believe that was the objective here.”
When parents caught word, they were concerned.
“I thought it was just a rumor at first, and then I texted him and he told me it was real,” said James Brumbelow, parent.
Students in the school recounted the moment they were put on soft lockdown.
“No one was allowed to go to the bathrooms, anywhere outside the classroom,” said Andrew Kinard. “It was just locked down. They were still teaching, but just not as loud. There was a lot of officers going around everywhere.”
Brumbelow thought about keeping his son Andrew home, along with the other 740 students.
“We discussed it, and we were prepared to keep him home, and then he actually came out this morning—he likes going to school—so he came out this morning and said there was supposed to be a heavy police presence, so it eased our minds a little bit more,” said Brumbelow.
Kinard said his school felt like a ghost town Wednesday.
“Police were there for over half the day, and there were not many people in any of my classes,” said Kinard. “It was like half. I believe like 49% of people were there, so about half of all my classes were just gone.”
The FBI is now involved since investigators said the call came in from out of state.
They are working to make an arrest.
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