Bomb Threat at Thompson Middle School Unfounded, Police Say

NEWPORT, RI—Thompson Middle School in Newport was evacuated briefly on Monday morning after a bomb threat was made against the school.

Nobody was ever in any danger and the threat was deemed unfounded after a thorough sweep of the building, according to Newport Police Sgt. Corey Huck.

It turns out that the police department's patrol, Criminal Investigation and Special Response Team division were "readily available due to a preplanned training day," Huck said, and the building was searched by all available personnel to limit the impact on the school day.

Police got a call from the school at 9:48 a.m. reporting the bomb threat.

Police arrived as school officials had already began an evacuation as a precautionary measure and immediately set up a command center.

"The school and the grounds were searched and there was no evidence of any foul play. The Criminal Investigation Division is working diligently along with the Rhode Island State Fusion Center in an effort to identify the responsible party," Huck said.

The school department and the police department "are committed to keeping our schools safe and would like to reassure the public that at no time was any staff or students in any danger," a news release stated.

This isn't the first time Newport schools have been disrupted by false bomb threats.

A Newport teen was arrested and charged for making numerous bomb threats against schools across the state earlier this year.

The juvenile was charged with 15 counts of making bomb threats and similar false reports and two counts of extortion and blackmail. He is also facing one count of accessing a computer for fraud.

Many of the threats originated from computer systems in Russia, which makes them hard to trace.

But dogged detective work on the ground in Newport led police to the arrest of the juvenile.

Rhode Island State Police Major Joseph F. Philbin said at the time of the 16-year-old's arrest, police initially weren't optimistic about finding a culprit.

Philbin said that the arrest is the result of strong detective work from the state police’s computer crimes unit and the Newport Police Department.