UPDATE 3:21 PM: An all clear has been given at the school.
UPDATE 3:18 PM: A partial clear of the school has been given and bomb squads are performing a second search of the property. A box was found with various items in it and a note attached to the outside, though it doesn’t appear the note was an actual threat.
UPDATE 1:38 PM: An interviewed New Hope High School student says the item of concern is a toolbox that was left in the school. The toolbox has a note attached to the outside of it that states a bomb is inside the box. This information has not yet been confirmed with authorities.
PREVIOUSLY: Lowndes County deputies and firefighters are on scene at New Hope High School investigating a bomb threat, and a bomb disposal unit from Tupelo is on scene.
About 11:15 a.m., a bomb threat was reported at the school about 10 miles east of Columbus. A bomb-sniffing dog is also on scene.
Students were evacuated from the school to its football field and then to the auditorium at New Hope Middle School nearby.
Access to the school is sealed off, and traffic is being stopped or diverted.
Traffic is being stopped at the intersection of New Hope and Old Yorkville roads.
ABC and Me Christian Preschool children were also evacuated from the area.
Maj. Mark Miley with the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office would not comment whether a device was found inside the school.
“We’ve got all the areas around the school shut down.”
Student enrollment is about 1,000 with 75 faculty, according to the school’s website.
According to information at the scene, classes are not canceled. However, parents who want to pick up their children must park at the Piggly Wiggly or New Hope High baseball field and walk to the middle school.
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