| Hannibal schools, Bank of Hannibal locked down after threats made in 911 calls |
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By ANN PIERCEALL
Herald-Whig Staff Writer
HANNIBAL, Mo. — All Hannibal public school buildings were locked down Friday after threats were made against the school district through a phone call made Thursday night to Marion County 911.
A second call made late Friday morning made an unspecified threat against Hannibal High School and the Bank of Hannibal. Both buildings are about three blocks from each other on U.S. 61. The bank also locked its doors, though people were still allowed into the bank during the lunchtime hours, Bank of Hannibal President Jerry Trower said.
Superintendent Jill Janes said the lockdown was a precautionary measure after district officials learned of the non-specific threat early Friday morning. It happened as soon as classes started and all students were inside their buildings. There are 10 school buildings in the district.
“They’ve been on lockdown all day,” she said.
The district’s administrative buildings were not locked down.
Lt. James Hark with the Hannibal Police Department said the first call came in to Marion County 911 at 8:09 p.m. Thursday.
“We didn’t push the panic button, (but) we went ahead and increased our presence as a precautionary measure in all the schools, ” Hark said.
He said officers were stationed at the high school and the middle school, and they were “in and out” of the district’s five elementary schools.
Janes said Friday afternoon that she received a report from Hannibal police that “some 911 calls made that implied some threats to the School District. The police felt (the reports) weren’t credible, but we’re just not taking any chances.”
Janes said a lockdown involves locking one more door in the school buildings, because every entrance to all Hannibal’s schools are locked every day except for the main entrance. The door to the main entrance is then monitored with administrators operating at a more heightened awareness.
The high school and Bank of Hannibal were specifically mentioned in the second phone call at 11:05 a.m. Friday. Officials at both locations were notified. Police beefed up their presence at the high school with department detectives, and members of the narcotics division were stationed at the bank.
“We had a very good coverage of the area,” Hark said. “You don’t want to discount any calls like this, yet it didn’t reach level where wanted to push the panic button and close businesses and schools.”
Hark said a criminal investigation into the matter has been launched.
“This type of thing won’t be tolerated,” he said. “It can be considered a terroristic threat by legal definition. Once we discover who did this, we plan on taking action.”
—apierceall@whig.com/(573)221-5879
Created: 5/9/2008 | Updated: 5/12/2008
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