School official: Bomb threat at high school a copycat

WABASH COUNTY, Ind. (WANE) -- Students at Southwood Junior/Senior High School in Wabash County were evacuated Tuesday morning after a bomb threat that school officials have deemed a copycat incident.

School officials told NewsChannel 15 graffiti was found on a boy's bathroom wall inside the school referencing a bomb threat at a specific time, but that time had already passed by the time the threat was found.

Wabash County police searched the building and found nothing. Students were brought back into the school around 9:30 a.m.

According to officials at Southwood, they anticipated that a bomb threat may happen after two similar incidents last week at Northfield High School in Wabash.

The school does plan to check surveillance cameras around the bathroom, but they're not sure if they'll be able to find anything due to the high number of people using the bathroom during a basketball game Monday night.

The district's superintendent, Dr. Sandra Weaver warned that what some might consider a prank comes with a severe penalty.

"This is a very serious offense, it's a federal offense.  When we find out who did this, that person will likely go to jail.  That interrupts their life, it puts their life on a different trajectory and we don't want to see that for any student," Weaver said.

The Wabash County Sheriff's Department continues to investigate each individual bomb threat issued at both Southwood and Northfield high schools.