Lynchburg’s E.C. Glass High School was placed on lockdown Monday afternoon due to a suspicious phone call, according to officials.
At about 1 p.m. on Monday, Lynchburg Emergency Services received a phone call about someone potentially being inside the high school with a gun, Lynchburg Police Chief Ryan Zuidema said during a press conference Monday evening.
Zuidema said following an investigation of the school, no weapons or active threat was found inside of the school, and the lockdown was lifted at about 4 p.m.
“We are always going to err on the side of caution anytime we deal with a situation like this to ensure the safety of our staff, our students, and anyone else that may be in our city schools,” Zuidema said about the department’s response to the threat.
“We understand that this event was certainly inconvenient ... but we will always prioritize safety above anything else.”
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Zuidema said during the investigation LPD was made aware of similar threats had been made to other schools across Virginia, but they will continue to look into the issue to see if this was a part of that effort.
Around the same time E.C. Glass was under lockdown, so were schools in Charlottesville, Culpeper and several schools in Hampton Roads. Suffolk Police Department increased security at the Booker T. Washington Elementary School after calls.
According to a news release earlier in the day from police department, the phone call was made by an out-of-state area code.
While there was no danger found, Zuidema said the threat itself amounts to a felony, and they will be investigating further to pursue charges against the person who made the threat.
LPD is asking anyone with information to reach out to the police department.
Lynchburg City Schools Superintendent Crystal Edwards credited LPD for their swift response time in getting inside the school building to protect students and staff.
“Although it may have felt like an inconvenience, for me, it was a gift to have them here as fast as they got here and to have them in the classroom,” Edwards said.
The superintendent added her staff was “prepared for crisis like this,” as they underwent training during the summer specifically for situations like the one Monday.
Edwards said all after-school activities were cancelled on Monday, however there would be no disruption to Tuesday’s school day.
“We will be open tomorrow,” Edwards said. “We will not tolerate this type of behavior and school is where our kids need to be.”
Edwards said there will be counselors on site for students on Tuesday if they need someone to talk to.
“This is not tolerable,” the superintendent said. “As chief said, it is a felony. It is not a joke, it’s not funny, and this should not be any type of challenge that any individual is doing as they put the safety of our students and our staff in harms way as they did today.”
In the same tone, Zuidema said his department will put whatever resources forward to make sure whoever made the threat is brought to justice.
“This is something very serious,” Zuidema said. “Our students, as Dr. Edwards said, need to be in the classroom learning and not being disrupted by this.
“So, for anyone thinking this is something they could or should do, we’re here to tell them you shouldn’t, and we will absolutely address you and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law if we choose to do that.”
The spate of calls, which are nicknamed “SWAT calls” because they bring out police tactical teams often armed with assault rifles, has caught the eye of the FBI.
“The FBI is aware of numerous swatting incidents wherein a report of an active shooter at a school is made,” bureau officials posted on the agency’s Houston, Texas office Twitter page last week in the wake of a false report of “10 people shot” at a Texas school.
“In recent months, the FBI and law enforcement around the country have investigated a number of hoax threats of targeted violence against schools and other public places,” officials said on the FBI webpage. “These threats — often issued via text message or posted on social media — are taken very seriously. Hoax threats are not a joke, and they can have devastating consequences — both for the public and for the perpetrators.”
According to the FBI, a threat over social media, text message, or email from another location is a federal crime under laws prohibiting threatening interstate communications. The penalty is a maximum five years in prison.
Hawes Spencer of The Daily Progress contributed to this report.