A suspect was in custody Tuesday afternoon after a number of schools in Lake County were shut down for the day because of bomb threats.
Lake Central Community Schools Superintendent Larry Veracco said in a release Tuesday afternoon that the unidentified suspect, who was in the custody of St. John police, could not have actually gone through with any of the threats made.
St. John police Chief James Kveton could not be reached for comment.
Veracco announced Tuesday morning that three schools in his district — Homan Elementary, Kolling Elementary and Clark Middle School — would close for the day after someone called in bomb threats Monday night to the Schererville and St. John police departments.
“The caller specifically stated that bombs would result in injuries to many people in these buildings,” Veracco said.
Officials opted to shut down those three schools for the day Tuesday although not the district’s other schools, saying they didn’t think the other schools were under threat.
Laura Santana, of St. John, sent her daughter, Sarah, to Lake Central High School while her son, Matt, a Clark Middle School student, stayed home. A teacher herself, she appreciated how the school handled the situation.
“I understand completely why they did what they did, and (administrators) did a great job of keeping the parents informed,” she said.
All Hammond Baptist Schools, St. Michael School in Schererville, St. John Evangelical Elementary School in St. John and Crown Point Christian School also were closed.
Police were set to investigate the three Lake Central schools Tuesday morning, and they were cleared by noon.
Rochelle Riffle, of Valparaiso, doesn’t listen to the radio or watch TV when she gets her daughter, Madison, 8, and herself ready for school. When she received a call from St. Michael School’s call system Tuesday morning alerting them to a bomb threat in other Tri-Town schools, it was still a little alarming even though she suspected it was a prank.
“I think because of how I heard, it was less threatening,” Riffle said. “For it to hit so close to home, though, was a little unnerving.”
Trying to explain the whole thing to Madison provided a little levity to the situation, however.
“I got the call, and I told her that school was canceled because of a bomb threat, and she immediately started crying before looking at me: ‘Wait, what’s a bomb threat? Can I go to Nana’s?’ She reacted before she even knew what it was,” Riffle said. “But then the questions came — ‘Why would someone want to do that? Are other people who’re at the school going to be safe?’ Not having the answers for her, that’s not something you’re prepared for first thing in the morning.”
Riffle said the school principal later emailed to let parents know the police had been through the school to make sure it was safe.
“They took precautions without putting too much fear out there,” she said. “What is going on in your life that you have to make a call like that?”
Veracco said in the release Tuesday afternoon that state and federal law enforcement groups helped the local police departments with bomb technicians and more than a dozen explosive detecting canines.
Michelle Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
