Staff Report

Updated Sept. 17 8:45 p.m.

Carroll High School was evacuated at roughly 11:30 a.m. Wednesday morning in the wake of a threatening message found at the school, according to Superintendent of Catholic Schools for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati Jim Rigg.

Rigg told The Catholic Telegraph that students were sent home for “an abundance of caution.”

Dayton-area school leaders were informed of the events, which included a threat written on a bathroom wall. Classes were canceled for the day and students were sent home.

WKEF in Dayton reported that police responded with  Wright-Patterson Air Force Base’s bomb-sniffing K-9s to search the building. Carroll High School principal Matt Sableski said the police search turned up nothing suspicious or dangerous.

“We saw something written on the wall that was a veiled threat for a bomb so we called the squad and they came out,” Sableski said. “I think our suspicion all along was that they wouldn’t find anything but we weren’t about to take that risk. We were relieved to find nothing was found.”

Though the situation turned out safely, Sableski acknowledged it also served as a successful test of the school’s emergency procedures.

“The focus of the day was on the safety of our students,” he said. “I was really overwhelmed by how smoothly everything went. My faculty and staff were extraordinary … It took very little instruction from me except to say ‘everybody out’ and they did exactly what they needed to do.

“Our parents were great and thankful for our response. Our students were so poised and mature. If there’s a silver lining it is definitely that the true character of Carroll High School came out.”

Carroll High School is a Catholic school with more than 700 students located in Dayton, Ohio.

 Posted Sept. 17, 2014