All clear at Carroll Catholic

False bomb threat evacuates school

[November 06, 2009]  Thursday morning at 11:45 a call was made to Carroll Catholic School that there was a bomb on the premises. Angie Sheley, who took the call, immediately notified Principal John Link. She also called 911, and the fire departments and police departments as well.

Although being over the lunch hour meant children were scattered throughout the school as well as outside, an immediate evacuation went quickly and smoothly. Link, who sounded the "Code Red," meaning an immediate evacuation, said that staff as well as volunteers are well-versed in evacuation procedures.

Link said that within minutes the school was evacuated, children were accounted for and emergency responders were on-site.

"We practice these drills all year," Link said.

Logan County EMA director Dan Fulscher said that his agency within moments can have emergency respondents coming from many sources to assist in the event of an actual emergency. Fulscher also said that school officials did an excellent job in following safety procedures.

After a canvass of the school by EMA, police and fire department staff proved the call a hoax, school resumed for the day.

Some parents and guardians, hearing of the evacuation, had come to take their children home for the day, but classes for those children still at school continued.

Link said that such a circumstance as happened Thursday includes moving the student population away from the school. Nearby St. Clara's Manor is used in these cases to provide a safe refuge in the event of a real emergency.

State's attorney Michael McIntosh said that a false bomb threat to a school is a Class 3 felony in Illinois. A Class 3 felony carries fines of from $3,000 to $10,000 and from two to five years in a state penitentiary.

[LDN]