Authorities investigating a bomb threat at Cane Creek Elementary School after a hoax caller reported bombs around the school Friday morning.
Sheriff Eddie Farris said his received notification of the threat at approximately 9:20am. Farris said the individual claimed to have planted explosive devices both inside and outside the school building. Farris said the caller eventually admitting the call was a prank.
“The hoax person, I would call him right now, actually called the school and notified them and stayed on the phone, stay on the phone, and our SRO deputy, our school resource deputy, actually took the phone and actually talked to the individual for over an hour,” Eddie Farris said. “Individual stated that he had planted bombs inside the school and outside of the school as well.”
Farris said deputies evacuated students and faculty to the nearby Cane Creek Recreational Park gym while law enforcement conducted a physical search of the premises. Farris said the agency utilized a K9 bomb dog during the sweep and found no evidence of any explosives.
“So, it appears that this caller, this hoax, we would call it, might refer to it as a swatting call, hoax-type call,” Farris said. “It appears it certainly this individual or groups of individuals might certainly be related or the same group that did the same thing, that called a bomb threat into our courthouse there a few days ago here in Putnam County.”
Farris said the duration of the hour-long phone call provides investigators with significant evidence, including the ability to analyze the caller’s voice. Farris said the FBI has already identified potential leads and narrowed the investigation down to a specific group or individuals.
“Not just working on the location or the IP address, I’m sure it’s a computer-type generated call,” Eddie Farris said. “Not just that, but the voice itself can be analyzed.”
Farris said the department is communicating with the FBI because similar threats have been reported in several other states, including Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, Iowa, and Arizona. Farris said investigators believe the suspects are located several states away and may be juveniles.
“I have been working with the sheriffs, have been working with our lobbyist here in Tennessee,” Farris said. “We think that there should be some mandatory minimum sentencing on calls of this nature and things that happen.”
Farris said the school system is in the process of bussing children back to the school, though some parents have chosen to pick up their children early. Farris said while these incidents are disruptive and emotional for the community, law enforcement remains prepared to respond swiftly to ensure student safety.
“And hopefully we can take care of this quickly and make some arrest,” Farris said. “And the win out of the whole thing is it’s actually fake or a hoax.”
