Bomb Threats Prompt Evacuations At 2 Washington Co. Schools
WASHINGTON (KDKA) – Two Washington County high schools were evacuated Wednesday morning because of bomb threats.
According to emergency dispatchers, both the Bentworth and California High Schools were evacuated around 11 a.m.
The Bentworth students were sent to a nearby elementary school.
Bomb-sniffing dogs searched the building, but they didn't find anything.
Students tried to take it all in stride.
"I wasn't that scared," said Sabrina Richards, a student. "I knew everything was taken care of, but I was pretty shaken up by it."
But many parents were frightened.
"Pure panic because you hear about other schools, and what these kids have gone through and all that, so it was very scary," Tracy McVicker, a parent, said.
While the school was being searched for bombs, a nearby PNC Bank branch was hit by a robber. Surveillance images show him walking into the bank with his gun drawn.
"The million and one dollar question is - is any of this related? Common sense would appear to say it is," said Chief John Hartman, of Southwest Regional Police.
But there's no firm connection between the bomb threat and the robbery just yet.
Connection or not, it was a frightening ordeal.
"When it was indicated that it was a specific item, a specific threat, and obviously, knowing what happened in Boston, we took it quite serious," said Superintendent Charles Baker, of the Bentworth School District.
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