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By Abigail Roberts

Correspondent

STANFORD – Stanford Police are still investigating the threat that was called into Lincoln County High School last week that placed both LCHS and the middle school on lock down.

Police Chief Zach Middleton said Monday there were no new updates to give but he hopes to release more information soon.

At about 1 p.m. on Sept. 27, LCHS received a call from a person alleging to be a student in the building with a gun and a bomb.

“SRO’s on campus and the Stanford Police Department quickly initiated a lock down of the campus (including Lincoln County Middle School) and began following procedures to investigate the alleged threat,” said LC Communications Director Brad Smith.

Emergency personnel from multiple agencies responded to the scene and set up an incident command post. Lincoln County Middle School, which is in close proximity to the high school, was also placed on lockdown as a precaution.

“After the initial response, the school was deemed safe to evacuate students to alternate locations so that emergency personnel could thoroughly sweep the building to investigate the threat,” Smith said.

Jeff Craiger, Director of Transportation and Safety, said moving staff and students to an alternate site was an unprecedented move for the district but considering the specific threat, it was the best way to keep everyone safe.

Smith provided regular updates on the situation via Lincoln County Schools’ social media, as well as live on WPBK-FM, throughout the entire day.

“Once all students and staff were safely cleared from the building, law enforcement along with K-9 units from UK Police and KSP did a secondary sweep and were able to deem the school and campus safe for re-entry at approximately 3:30 pm,” Smith said in a statement.

Superintendent Bruce Smith said he knows it was a stressful couple of hours for parents and guardians.

“The safety of our students is of the utmost importance and every threat has to be treated as if it is the real thing. I want to thank all of our students, parents/guardians, staff members and law enforcement for their patience and work today and assuring everyone was safe. I especially want to thank Stanford Baptist Church and Grace Fellowship Church for allowing us to bring students to their locations.”

School counselors were available for students and staff the following day, according to LCHS Principal Michael Godbey.

“I appreciate our students and staff for cooperating and following protocols,” Godbey said.

The campus was cleared and deemed safe for school the following day.

The incident remains under investigation.