Wendy Chesney was in tears as emergency personnel waved her past “do not enter” signs as she drove to pick up her child at school Wednesday.
Chesney’s child was one of over 300 students at Rindge Memorial School who were evacuated from the school around lunchtime after a bomb threat written in crayon was found on a bathroom stall. Jaffrey-Rindge School District, along with police and fire personnel, enacted safety protocol and brought the students to the nearby Meeting House while a full-scale investigation was launched.
“It was very scary driving in,” said Chesney. “But as soon as I got past the barricades, everything looked very orderly. Nothing was frantic and all the kids were very calm.”
When the children made it to the Meeting House, Rindge police and fire cordoned off the area, setting up barricades near the transfer station and library on Main Street, on Payson Hill Road, and on the Route 119 end of School Street.
“Everyone was really there for the kids,” said Chesney.
Around noon, the district called off school, giving parents the opportunity to pick up their kids, or have them dropped off via a school bus.
“This is why we rehearse,” said Rindge Police Sergeant Daniel Anair. “We do planned evacuations like this so everyone knows what to do.”
Anair said the entire school was searched and deemed safe. In addition to Rindge police and fire personnel, the NH State Police Bomb Squad was called, according to Anair. Jaffrey-Rindge Superintendent Reuben Duncan said in a message to parents at 4:30 p.m. that two bomb squad canines assisted in the sweep of the building.
Police will continue to investigate the threat and Anair said the department has a few “persons of interest” in the crime. Anair said police and the district would work together on a punishment if a student was found to be behind the threat.
“It does not appear that this was a serious threat,” said Anair.
Fifth-grader Katelyn Chesney was in P.E. class Wednesday morning when the fire alarm went off. At first, she thought it was a drill, but as time passed, she realized it was much more serious.
“Teachers were handing out emergency survival blankets,” said Chesney, who said she wasn’t allowed to take anything with her. “We were outside for like an hour and then we finally started to walk to the Meeting House.”
Chesney said things were calm they began to walk two-by-two to the Meeting House, and that many thought that they were evacuating because of a gas leak.
“I was just confused about everything,” said Katelyn. “I’m just glad to know that my friends are safe and that I don’t have homework tonight.”
Details about the bomb threat were sparse throughout the day, with some locals speculating about what was happening.
Ingalls Memorial Library Director Diane Gardenour originally thought that the setup may have been an emergency drill conducted by the school. Gardenour said she didn’t remember there being a bomb threat in her 28 years at the library.