‘Suspicious message’ led to moving students to Young Auditorium
By Ryan Spoehr
SLN staff
After what was described as a “suspicious message” was found at Whitewater High School Monday morning, facility was evacuated and students were ushered to the nearby Young Auditorium via buses.
Specific details of the message were not detailed, but a statement on the district website indicated there was a search for “suspicious devices.”
Police were notified immediately of the message, according to the statement.
“We are fortunate to have a good team here and we got the information out quickly,” District Administrator Mark Elworthy said.
Following the evacuation, all Whitewater Unified School District buildings were placed on heightened awareness and students were kept inside. However, the buildings functioned on their normal schedules, according to the statement.
Whitewater Police searched the high school.
“No suspicious devices were found,” according to the website post.
Elworthy said students were taken back to the high school by buses at approximately 1:45 p.m.
This is the fourth time in just under 12 months Whitewater High School was either evacuated or placed on lockdown due to a suspicious message or suspicious package – two this school year and two previous incidents in 2016-17.
“I would characterize the two this year as different. They were because of suspicious notes and the others were suspicious packages,” Elworthy said. “However, we take these things seriously.”
Bus routes for 4K were initially placed on hold after the call to police, but the hold was lifted and buses arrived at roughly 11:25 a.m. to pick up the 4K students.
Continuing coverage will be in the Nov. 30 issue of the Whitewater Register.
