We have an NBC26 update on a threat that targeted schools across the country on Monday including schools in Appleton, Green Bay, Manitowoc, Oshkosh, Middleton and Pleasant Prairie. Today the FBI is investigating the robo-calls that came in on Monday some reportedly saying a bomb would go off. Today we’re learning that many schools had to respond to the situation differently.
When a threat is made to a school, administrators have to question whether their students may be, being drawn outside are blocked in- doors for a reason. Today some schools are explaining why they took the steps they did when they were threatened.
A school in Green Bay another in the Town of Algoma and one in Appleton all received the bizarre call on Monday which is leaving a lot of questions on law enforcement’s plates.
"We’re trying to determine if the calls received here in Appleton were identical or similar in nature to calls received around the state," says Sgt. Dave Lund with the Appleton Police.
While Green Bay went into lockdown, keeping students inside Appleton sent students outside, for nearly two hours.
"To move the students away from the school while the Appleton Police department did a swipe of the building to look for anything suspicious," explains Sgt. Lund.
And in the Town of Algoma in the Oshkosh area school district, they reacted initially by going into lockdown as well.
"We were unaware at that time. We thought that we were the only one," says Stan Mack the Superintendent of the Oshkosh Area School District.
But after analyzing the situation, they felt it would be in the student’s best interest to get them off of school grounds and away from the scene all together.
"I wanted to get the children to a safe site," adds Mack.
They bused students out of the potentially dangerous situation.
"We had no idea of where the potential harm would be coming from. We were operating based on only that short, less than 20 second message," says Mack.
But while each school's reaction may have been different, the state’s and federal government's reaction has offered a bit of comfort.
"We're feeling comfortable that the FBI is on top of it because the investigation extends across state lines," adds Mack.
Law enforcement from all of the school districts involved are working with multiple agencies today to try and discover the source of those believed to be automated calls.
