SOUTH MIAMI, FLA. (WSVN) - Police have given the all clear at a school in South Miami after they determined that an explosive threat that led to the evacuation of the campus was a hoax.
On Thursday morning, law enforcement officers blocked off roads in front of Somerset Academy Charter South Miami at 5876 SW 68th St.
According to police, there were reports of a bomb inside the elementary and middle school.
Officers surrounded the campus as they awaited bomb squads while it was on lockdown.
Staff quickly responded by vacating the building and leading students to the field outside of the school.
“The school received a bomb threat that there were several pipe bombs in the school,” said South Miami Police detective Fernando Bosch. “Everybody from the school has been cleared out. We also cleared a business just south of the school as a precaution and the medical center across the street.”
South Miami Police K-9 units and bomb squads swept the school.
Although the police gave the all clear, parents were worried as they rushed to pick up their children.
Many parents rushed to the school within the hour following the reported threat.
“All good, we’re all good. It was just a moment in time,” said a mother who came to pick up her son.
While some of the students were too young to understand why the situation was so scary for their parents and teachers, others came out in tears and were consoled by their parents.
“Everybody should be safe,” said Bosch. “Hopefully this was just some sick joke.”
Joke or not, parents like South Miami Commissioner Steve Calle said they were concerned after learning of the threat.
“I can’t wait to get [my children] out right now,” said Calle. “I’m assuming most of the community doesn’t know about it and probably picked up their kids. We’ll just make sure to talk to [my children] tonight and tuck them in bed.
“This is very serious, and hopefully we’re going to get to the bottom of who called it in, and hopefully he’ll be arrested. If we discover who it is, he’ll be arrested,” said Bosch.
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