Bomb threat evacuates Holton Middle School

Holton Middle School students and staff were evacuated from their school building near the end of the day on Friday over a bomb threat received at the school, according to Holton USD 336 school officials.

Holton Superintendent Bob Davies said no bombs were found at the school after the threat was reported, adding that while it was unknown whether the threat, made by a student at the school, was intended as a real threat or “just blowing off steam,” the district will “take things at face value” when such threats are heard.

At about 2 p.m. Friday, a student at HMS alerted school personnel of the threat through “STOPit,” an app that allows students to anonymously report tips to school officials on “things that make them feel unsafe, or if they feel like they could harm themselves,” Davies said.

“It was somebody reporting what they heard from someone else,” Davies added. “Somebody heart a conversation, and that conversation was reported.”

The report prompted immediate evacuation procedures, and students and staff were successfully evacuated to Holton High School, where all students and staff were reported safe and accounted for, it was reported.

Davies said that once the evacuation was complete, a student came forward and told a teacher which student made the threat. School officials and law enforcement officers then questioned the student, who confessed to making the threat and was later suspended.

HMS students were released for the day from the high school, Davies said, as the “all-clear” to return to HMS came at about 3:30 p.m., after the end of the school day. Students were allowed to return to the school to retrieve personal items, such as backpacks, books or cell phones, he said.

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