PINEHURST — Moore County Public Schools received a bomb threat on one of its middle schools, according to an April 26 press statement by the district.
“This afternoon, a bomb threat was reported at New Century Middle School. The school immediately evacuated all students and staff following the procedure for this situation,” the statement said. “Currently, authorities are conducting a full search of the campus. All students and staff remained in their designated safe areas.”
The district said it appreciated the support of the Moore County Sheriff’s Department, Carthage Police Department, and Moore County Schools Police.
The statement also said a message was sent to all New Century Middle School parents about the procedures for dismissal.
The students were released on a normal schedule that began at 3 p.m.
The communications department for Moore Schools told North State Journal that as of April 26, New Century Middle School is operating on a normal schedule and that an investigation into the source of the threat is ongoing.
Moore County Schools joins other districts that have received bomb threats in the past few months.
At the onset of April, a 15-year-old boy admitted to making a school bomb threat towards Havelock Middle School, located in Craven County. The Havelock police have indicated charges are pending for that juvenile.
Another juvenile was charged on April 11 with making a bomb threat as well as other threats during the months of March and April in Lee County. That individual is facing six counts of communicating threats of mass violence on educational property and one count of communicating threats toward a school resource officer.
It is a Class H felony to communicate threats involving educational property under North Carolina state law. A Class H felony can carry a sentence of five to 20 months in prison per count.
Also, during the second week of April, Davie and Lexington Counties had received bomb threats via an “anonymous email” about potential bombs on school property. The threats were later deemed “not credible.”
Last fall, both the Cabarrus and Charlotte-Mecklenburg school districts, as well as the Mooresville Graded school districts, were subject to bomb threats.
In late September, three threats over a two-day period were called in related to at least four campuses in Cabarrus County Public Schools. Campuses evacuated included Jay M. Robinson High School, Cox Mill Elementary School, Cox Mill High School and Northwest Cabarrus High School in Concord.
Around the same timeframe as the Cabarrus threats were received, the Mooresville Graded School District in Iredell County also received a bomb threat, and Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools reportedly received two threats to its high schools within a 24-hour period.
