After eight bomb threats were called into area schools within the past year, local and federal agencies are anxious to stop the threats, which come at significant cost and expenditure of resources.

At the March meeting of the Columbus-Lowndes County Emergency Management Local Emergency Planning Committee, Special Agent Chris Michaelson, of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Crisis Management Division in Jackson, Wednesday said the FBI has different jurisdictions for different threats.

“We have one bomb tech for the whole state,” Michaelson said. “We do train a lot of local teams and a lot depends on whether or not we take the lead on bomb cases. If it’s terrorism, we are the lead agency. If it’s not, it’s different. What’s been going on in Columbus is bomb threats being called in by minors. We do not talk to minors unless we talk to their parents. We will send you a bomb squad, but we aren’t going to go downtown and interrogate a minor.”

As incidents of false bomb threats increase, Columbus Police Department Chief Selvain McQueen is “tired of the foolishness.”

“When you have someone call in a threat, at even a small school, you are going to tie up five to eight of my officers,” McQueen said. “These are people that could be doing other things and working other cases. I’m getting tired of this foolishness. We have to inconvenience the teachers and students by evacuating them. We take every call seriously, because we don’t want anyone to get harmed. This means we have to evacuate the schools and then place them on lockdown. As soon as the school goes on lockdown, we immediately start our investigation.”

McQueen said a parameter is then created, surrounding the school, and the waiting process begins.

“We have to call around and find bomb dogs,” he said. “Sometimes the ones at (Columbus Air Force Base) or the ones in Tupelo are on other calls. This means we have to call the squad at Camp Shelby to drive down, and we can’t do anything but wait until they arrive.”

Aside from the CPD and Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office personnel, several other agencies are involved when a bomb threat is reported, McQueen said.

“The FBI get involved, the fire department — all of your first responders,” he explained. “Then, (Mississippi Emergency Management Agency) has to come in and set up a command center. It is a huge ordeal. We are very glad that these threats are not real, but they are very disruptive. We even have to bring city workers to the scene.”

A juvenile was arrested in February, for calling in a false threat to Columbus High School via 911. McQueen declined to comment on the status of the case, because it involves a minor. He was very direct in his message to those who have called in threats and have not been caught.

“We are going to catch you, there is no doubt about it,” McQueen said. “It doesn’t matter if you are a juvenile or an adult — you will be arrested and you will be prosecuted.”

Jeff Clark was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.