South Ripley schools receive bomb threat
Wanda English Burnett - Editor

Students from both the high school and elementary at South Ripley were evacuated Thursday morning, January 19 after school officials were alerted about a bomb threat.

The call came into the Jennings County Communications Center saying that South Ripley High School could possibly have a bomb in it. The call was relayed to the Ripley County 911 Communication Center who then notified the high school.

Officials moved quickly to take the students out of harms way, and even evacuated the Southeastern Career Center as a precautionary measure. The high school received the first call to evacuate and immediately moved the students to the elementary chool. The communication center then received a second call that referred to South Ripley schools, not just the high school. Learning of this information school officials evacuated both the high school and elementary school students to Ohio Rod.

Ripley County Sheriff Bill Davison, along with other officers, Town Marshal David Adams, and officers from the Versailles State Police Post responded to the call. The Versailles Volunteer Fire Department, Osgood Volunteer Fire Department, Rescue 69 and the ISP bomb squad headed by Dan Goris, were also dispatched to the scene.

In a very orderly fashion, all the students were cleared from the buildings. School officials were pleased with the quick evacuation. Assistant Superintendent Dennis Stockdale noted that all the students were accounted for. "Administrators at both uildings, support staff, and teachers reacted calmly and efficiently," said Stockdale. Others at the scene noted the students moved in a calm, organized fashion quickly to a safe place.

Officials conducted a sweep of the buildings, which turned up nothing. In a little over an hour, all the students and faculty were safely back in their classrooms. Total attendance at both schools is 1,339. Stockdale noted that the students had a drill earlier in the year and they followed procedure making the situation less tense than it could have been.

Sheriff Bill Davison stated that school officials and students handled the situation tremendously. "The incident is under investigation. We are asking anyone with information to contact the Sheriff's Department, Versailles Police or Indiana State Police.

LINDA CHANDLER PHOTO

Students from both the high school and elementary school at South Ripley were evacuated last Thursday, January 19, after school officials were notified there had been a bomb threat made. The students were taken to Ohio Rod until the clear signal was given from authorities. They returned to their classrooms about noon.