Officials defuse rumors of school bomb threat

Rumors of a bomb threat at the Hedley Public Schools last week were just that – rumors – and nothing more, officials say.

Word of a supposed bomb threat first surfaced late Thursday, April 12, and was reported to the Donley County Sheriff’s Department that Friday. Students were out of school that Friday and the following Monday for Easter holidays.

Sheriff Butch Blackburn said an investigation by his department, Constable Mike Wallendorff, and Hedley ISD found no credible evidence of a threat. A search by a dog from Interquest Detection Canines of Abilene last Monday also found no explosives in the school.

“Our investigation concluded that [the threat] was just a rumor,” Blackburn said.

The sheriff did say, however, that a warrant has been issued for the arrest of 17-year-old Hedley resident, Santiago Rodriguez, Jr., in connection with the March 30 discovery of a one-pound package of Detagel explosive near a Hedley residence.

Blackburn said an investigation is still underway in that case, which he believes is related to an ongoing feud in Hall County.

The person who supposedly was going to blow up the school was Rodriguez, Blackburn said. But Rodriguez was reportedly not even in the county at the time of the supposed threat.

“It’s kind of hard to blow it up if you’re not here,” Blackburn said.

Rodriguez’s last known whereabouts was Breckenridge, Blackburn said. He is wanted on possession of an explosive.

Hedley ISD Principal Terry Stevens said the rumors of a bomb threat started April 12. A Hedley teacher overheard some students talking about it and reported it to Stevens. Superintendent Bryan Hill was out of town at the time, he said.

“This is one of those cases where so-and-so said that so-and-so said so,” Stevens said. “But we took every precaution anyway.”

The principal alerted authorities and informed Hill of what was going on. HISD administrators called in the search dogs to go through the school while students were on vacation on Monday, April 16. Neither the dogs nor local law enforcement found any cause for concern.

Stevens said on Tuesday, April 17, he came to work early and looked through every classroom to make sure nothing was different before students and teachers arrived.

“I think some of the teachers were mad because we didn’t tell them about it,” Stevens said. “We felt like it was more important to have a normal class day on Tuesday and tell them later. It was an administrative decision, and we stick by it.

“We felt we were as safe as we could be for our kids,” he said. “We reacted to the threat and did what we thought was necessary.”