Parrish High School Evacuated Tuesday After Bomb Threat: Report

PARRISH, FL — Parrish Community High School was evacuated Tuesday morning after a bomb threat, according to multiple reports.

“There was a significant bomb threat at Parrish Community High School,” Scott Hopes, county administrator, said during the Manatee County Commission’s public workshop meeting, the Bradenton Herald reported.

The anonymous threat was sent on the school’s FortifyFL app, ABC7 reported.

The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office told ABC Action News that the threat said that there would be two bomb detonations at the school at 8:15 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.

K9 and bomb squads were sent to search the school for explosives. Officials said it would take about five hours to clear the school, according to reports.

In an email to parents, Manatee County Schools said, “As a result of the bomb threat this morning, School Administrators are performing a safe evacuation of school buildings and sending students to a safe and open portion of the campus while the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office performs a sweep of our campus.”

Students were initially sent to sit in the football stadium bleachers following the evacuation and were later bussed to the Manatee County Fairgrounds, where their parents can pick them up, reports said.

This isn't the only threat that Parrish Community High School has received recently.

School officials addressed a separate threat made Monday via the FortifyFL app.

“The threat was second-hand in nature and non-specific,” the school wrote in a Facebook post. “Our (school resource officer) and administration immediately began working with the Sheriff’s Office and District Security and once again the Sheriff’s Office has deemed the threat to be unfounded.”

Additional security personnel were on and around campus after Monday’s threat.

The school was also placed on lockdown Wednesday and Thursday, according to a Facebook post.

Both lockdowns were “the result of medical emergencies which took place in classrooms,” the school shared on Facebook. “Our school uses a system in which a lockdown was inadvertently activated instead of a medical emergency.”

On Thursday, students were also placed in “shelter-in-place” status while law enforcement investigated “an anonymous and vague threat,” school officials said.

An alarm was activated at the school Thursday “due to a misunderstanding,” the sheriff’s office wrote in its own Facebook post. This “lead to some degree of panic.”

“As you know, rumors and panic can create chaotic responses. (On Wednesday and Thursday) rumors about what was taking place added to the confusion on and off our campus, as well as social media,” the school said. “If you or your student has specific information regarding the safety of our school, please contact our administration directly.”

Patch has reached out to Manatee County Schools and the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office for additional information. This article will be updated when they respond.

The school district and sheriff’s office will host a news conference Tuesday, 3:30 p.m., at the high school.

“No further information is going to be released at this time,” the district said.