Several threats called in to Gentry schools

GENTRY — A number of 911 calls were received Thursday that included threats of a possible bomb at Gentry Middle School.

According to Police Chief Keith Smith, four or five 911 calls from cell phones came in Thursday afternoon, with the callers saying a bomb would go off at a Gentry school. The last caller, according to Smith,said he saw a note indicating a bomb would go off Friday (today) at Gentry Middle School. The callers, according to Smith, were said to have sounded like teenage boys.

Though schools will remain open, police and school officials are taking every precaution to ensure the safety of students and staff at the schools. In addition to police presence and extra precautions by faculty and staff at theschools, bomb-sniffing dogs will be brought to the schools for a search in the morning.

"We regard this as a lowlevel threat," Smith said. "There is no corroborating evidence to verify what the caller said."

Yet Smith emphasized that his department and the schools were not taking the threat lightly but were taking every precaution for the safety of all involved.