WEBB — Officials pledge to prosecute, to the fullest extent of the law, whoever is responsible for a bomb threat emailed Wednesday morning to a teacher at West Tallahatchie High School.
Tallahatchie County Sheriff Jimmy Fly said the school resource officer at WTHS, who is employed by the sheriff's office, was notified at 9:58 a.m. that a threatening email was received by a teacher at the school.
Fly said the email read, in part, "...I'm blowing that school up with them kids in it today at 1:20 on the dot. Y'all better be ready to die!"
The email's subject line was blank, and Fly said officials do not know why that particular school employee was targeted for the message.
Receipt of the email, which showed the supposed email address of the sender, set off a chain reaction by school officials and law enforcement, the sheriff explained.
"We notified the Tallahatchie County Emergency Management Agency, Mississippi Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security," said Fly.
The school, which houses about 280 students in grades 7-12, was evacuated.
"The students were taken to a safe location, and then the decision was made to just dismiss school," said Fly.
School was dismissed at 11 a.m., he added.
Fly said Homeland Security arranged for five bomb detection dogs and their handlers to be dispatched to the Webb campus.
The sheriff said two of the dogs came from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; two from DeSoto County; and one from Panola County.
Fly said the dogs "searched the entire high school" to make sure there was no bomb. The official "all clear" was given at 3:22 p.m.
In addition to the agencies already mentioned, response to the bomb threat also came from the Tallahatchie County Sheriff's Office, Charleston Police Department, Sumner Police Department and Webb Police Department, Fly said.
"I would like to tell everybody who responded and helped, thank you," he noted. "To the West Tallahatchie School District, thank you for your cooperation and your help in this, as well."
Fly said whether the email turns up any incriminating evidence remains to be seen, but there is always the possibility the perpetrator left a digital fingerprint.
"We're working with Homeland Security on tracking down the sender of the email," he added. "If our investigation leads to somebody we can arrest and prosecute, we intend on prosecuting them to the fullest extent."
Under Mississippi law, it is a felony offense to report that a bomb or other explosive device has been placed. Upon conviction, the accused may be fined up to $10,000 and/or sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.
The impact of the prank, whatever the motivation, extends far beyond the loss of a few hours of classroom instruction, the sheriff indicated.
"I would like to stress the amount of resources and time that [such a threat] takes away from agencies — and not just Tallahatchie County agencies, but across the state," Fly noted. "It's not a joke."
Officials with the West Tallahatchie School District did not immediately respond to Thursday morning telephone and email requests for comment.
