By RODNEY HART

Herald-Whig Staff Writer

CAMP POINT, Ill. -- School resumed today at Camp Point Central High School and Junior High School after a bomb threat note was found Tuesday in a girls bathroom, forcing an evacuation.

Authorities said no bomb was found after a "threatening note of a very serious nature" was discovered at about 10:30 a.m., Adams County Sheriff Brent Fischer said. More than 600 students, teachers and staff were evacuated to two locations in Golden before officers and bomb experts from Springfield searched the connected buildings.

Officers closed Ill. 94 for miles in both directions while the search was in progress. The road reopened at about 4:30 p.m.

The note was discovered by a teacher in the high school side of the building. The teacher then notified school authorities. Superintendent Marty Cook and staff alerted parents by phone about the threat and school closings.

Cook was unavailable this morning for comment. Fischer said the evacuation went smoothly.

"Credit goes to the Camp Point staff and superintendent," Fischer said. "Their folks did well and were very cooperative."

Adams County Special Response Team officers did a visual search of the building after the threat was discovered. Two officers with a bomb-sniffing dog from the Illinois Secretary of State Police bomb disposal squad arrived in the afternoon and thoroughly searched the building, Fischer said.

Fischer said the threat was taken seriously and an investigation is ongoing to find the person who left the note.

"When we got the threat, we took it seriously and made sure everybody's safety was taken care of," Fischer said. "We couldn't determine the location (of the bomb) and the threat level, so it was important to evacuate."

Last week, similar threats were received at Liberty and Quincy high schools. Evacuations took place but no threatening devices were found.

-- rhart@whig.com/221-3370