Police say W.L.H.S. bomb threat appears to be false

Students and faculty were evacuated from West Lafayette Junior/Senior High School after authorities received a call notifying them of a bomb threat around 7:30 a.m. Monday.

“We had all our units along with Purdue and sheriff’s department deputies respond. They are currently clearing the school right now with two bomb dogs to make sure it is not a legitimate threat,” WLPD Chief Troy Harris said around 9 a.m. "We have about 25 to 30 officers in the school searching right now.”

Authorities said it does not appear to be a legitimate threat.

“All of the students and the teachers that were in the building have been evacuated and are at an offsite location waiting for the all-clear. I think that once we get that all-clear, the school will reopen,” Harris said.

To investigate a bomb threat, authorities work with the Tippecanoe County High Tech Crime Unit. The unit investigates the phone number the call was made from.

“Typically, it’s related to some sort of spoof number and proxy servers,” Harris said.

Because classes don’t start until around 8 a.m., not many students were in school at the time.

“I think we should be wrapping it up here in about 30 minutes,” Harris said. “We will continue to investigate this and hold those people accountable.”

Harris advises students, parents and faculty not to let events like this affect the way you live your life.

“Unfortunately, It’s just the reality of the world we live in today,” Harris said.