BETHESDA, Md. — Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in Montgomery County was locked down Thursday due to a reported threat, but it has since been resolved.
The Montgomery County Department of Police responded to the school around 11:30 a.m.
Police and SWAT vehicles surrounded the school after the kids had been evacuated.
A spokesperson for the Montgomery County Police Department told WUSA9 the school received a call of a threat around 11 a.m. The community engagement officer responded to the school and spoke to the person who made the threats. The officer then called for back up.
When WUSA9 arrived on scene, students were outside the school, calling their parents, updating them on the situation.
Parents rushed to the school for answers.
Some parents told WUSA9 they were specifically told not to go to the school, which made parents panic even more.
“This is not your normal bomb threat," a parent said. "We’ve had them before and this is not the response for a typical bomb threat. It’s really unfortunate that we know that, but this is different and they’ve never told us not to come to the school. When they said don’t come to the school, that was my first indication, that something was different."
Later, the police department announced that the threat was unfounded, but the remainder of the school day was canceled. Officials told WUSA9 the response was larger than normal out of an abundance of caution.
“Because of the caller and the conversation between the officer and the caller, they decided to make this an ERT (Emergency Response Team), where they call in swat. That’s our emergency response team and that’s why we responded the way we did and it’s always as an abundance of caution,” Shiera Goff, The Montgomery County Police Department Public Information Officer said.
The family reunification area was at the Lynnbrook Local Park at 8008 Newdale Road.
Principal Shelton Mooney sent a letter to parents explaining what had happened at the school. In the letter, Mooney said a caller said they were hiding in a bathroom with a gun, had placed bombs in students' backpacks and explosive devices around the building. Police were called and took over the investigation, conducting a thorough sweep of the entire building. Nothing was found.
Mooney said Friday's class-based assessments would be canceled. Previously scheduled AP and IB exams will continue as planned.
According to the letter, there will be an increased security presence on campus Friday as well.
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