Photo contributed by Kerry Hatfield

DEBRIEFING— Teachers meet in the LMC after a bomb threat to report if they have checked their rooms for anything suspicious. Derek O’Dell, 16, was charged with filing a false report, and David Truitt, 18, was charged with being an accessory after the fact.

Derek O’Dell, 16, is accused of filing a false report, a felony.  He was charged as a juvenile and released to his grandfather.

David Truitt, 18, is accused of being an accessory after the fact, an aggravated misdemeanor. 

O’Dell allegedly made a call using a cell phone at 6:46 a.m. to 911 operators. The voice said, "West High School is going to blow." Police were immediately sent to the school and determined that evacuating the building was the best course of action, Principal Nancy Jacobsen said.

"We do have a building evacuation plan and we have a lockdown procedure," said Jacobsen.  "Things were complicated by the fact that at that time of day, it is extremely difficult to lock a building down."

Some students and staff members were already in the building and some were just arriving.  Students already at school with their own transportation were sent home and those without were taken by bus to the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds.  Students arriving at school were immediately diverted away from the school by staff members. 

Students at the fairgrounds were released to parents.  Staff returned to the building after a determination was made by the bomb squad that the building was safe to reenter.  Staff members assisted in this process by checking their work areas for anything suspicious. 

"One thing that many of them mentioned was that they were in a better position to check if something was out of place in their room or something didn’t seem right than somebody that has no clue what their room looks like," said Jacobsen.

Jacobsen said that even through the confusion of that morning, everyone reacted well.

"Students did exactly what we told them to," Jacobsen said.  "They were calm.  The reacted like adults.  Staff members did an outstanding job.  We’re a major kitchen, for example, for a number of buildings and all of that got turned around.  Just on a dime, people were able to turn things around."

Classes were cancelled that day; however, things were quickly back to normal.  Parent-teacher conferences and afternoon activities were still able to be held. 

Five days after the incident, police arrested O’Dell and Truitt after working with cell phone companies and conducting interviews.  According to school district spokeswoman Karen Farley, they were suspended from school for the maximum amount of days and there will be hearings regarding possible expulsion.

Incidents like this are treated very seriously, and Farley says they make learning difficult.

"It’s important for us that kids feel comfortable and secure at school," said Farley. "Incidents like this do make it challenging.  Students that can concentrate in the classroom feel a sense of positive belonging to their school and are going to do better in terms of achievement.  Incidents like this do disrupt that process, not just to the classroom, but also to their positive connection they feel to the school."