Three schools in New Jersey and New York were either put on lockdown or evacuated after apparently unrelated threats and calls Wednesday morning, officials said.
John Witherspoon Middle School in Princeton was placed on lockdown, while students at Village Elementary School in Holmdel were loaded onto buses after the apparently unrelated calls, officials in each town said. The nature of the alleged threats wasn't immediately clear.
Across the New York border, in Rockland County, officials evacuated Clarkstown High School South after a reported bomb threat.
Police searched John Witherspoon Middle School shortly after the threatening call and deemed the building safe, according to Princeton Public Schools Superintendent Steve Cochrane. The call is thought to be a hoax, but Cochrane said students at all the schools in the district are sheltering in place for the rest of the day.
Police were also called to Holmdel to search the school. It's not clear if students have been let back into the building, but the district said everyone is safe.
At Clarkstown High, students were sent home for the day after authorities found an item thought to possibly be an explosive device. The Rockland County Sheriff's Department's bomb squad was called to the scene and determined that the item, which appeared to be a plastic bottle containing concrete, wasn't a bomb. They then did a sweep of the school with police dogs, and the building appears to be safe.
