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 Bomb scare fears escalate after bomb dog “alerts” to possible threat web posted January 31, 2008  EDGEFIELD – Early
Wednesday morning an
unknown male called W. E. Parker Elementary School asking to speak to
Principle Gaye Holmes by name. When the caller was told she was
unavailable due to overseeing the children arriving at school the
caller stated there was, “a bomb in the school, get the kids out,”
Edgefield Police Chief Ronnie Carter said. The school was evacuated and
students were sent to the Edgefield Gym on Church Street.The call was received just before 7:30 am as busses and parents were arriving to drop the children off for the day. Crest Road was closed off as police and emergency personnel arrived on the scene. A bomb detection dog provided by the Aiken County Sheriff’s Office arrived a short time later and began searching the school and “alerted” the handler to a possible threat in one of the rear bathrooms. “We secured the area,” Chief Carter said and allowed the dog to search other areas before returning again. “He alerted a second time in the same area,” Chief Carter said, and that is when the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) brought their bomb team to the school, complete with a remote control robot. Below: The towel dispenser removed by the robot  The bathroom was
cleared later in the day and no bomb was found,
however; the robot did use a water cannon to blast a paper towel
dispenser (left) from the wall due to the robot being unable to
reach it from
the ground. Chief Carter said it is possible that cleaning chemicals
could have contributed to the dog alerting in the area. “We’re not
going to take any chances with something like this,” Carter said.The call warning of the bomb was traced back to a pay phone outside the Fairway Food Center on Augusta Road. Chief Carter said the investigation is ongoing and they are following leads in the case. The person responsible will face criminal charges when identified. The caller was thought to be a black male, police reports state. Edgefield County School Superintendent Mary Crenshaw issued a press release later Wednesday morning stating, “Our administration at W. E. Parker immediately put their emergency plan in action to safely remove all the children and staff from the facility.” Dr. Crenshaw also released that she intends to have a de-briefing of the situation, “to address the execution of our emergency plan.” Edgefield Mayor Ken Durham said he felt the plan was executed flawlessly with all the children and staff being removed from the property in a short period of time. “I think they did a great job,” the Mayor said. ©
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