The Odessa Police Department received a bomb threat for Permian High School about 2:11 p.m. Tuesday.
Multiple law enforcement agencies responded and, with ECISD officers, began searching the school. Officers found two backpacks, however those were quickly confirmed to have been left by students and were cleared of suspicion, a news release detailed.
ECISD’s explosive K-9 officer and OPD’s explosive ordinance division also began a preliminary sweep of the campus. Officers also secured the exterior of the campus and then students and staff were evacuated.
At 4 p.m., the school initiated regular dismissal procedures. Some after-school activities resumed in areas of the campus already cleared by authorities during a second campus search. No explosives or suspicious items were found, the release said.
Permian High School and district officials are angry and frustrated to have school interrupted this way, the statement said. ECISD will continue to work with other local, state and federal agencies to identify the person, or people, responsible for making these threats and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law.
“Again, we want to thank all of the local law enforcement agencies who responded and helped investigate the threat and keep our people safe. Thank you to Permian’s staff, students and parents who, for the second day in a row, responded extremely well, to a scary, stressful situation,” the release said.
This is the second time in two days that Permian has been the center of law enforcement activity. On Monday, all manner of law enforcement came out in force after University of Texas Permian Basin dispatch received a 911 phone call stating there was an active shooter at Permian High School.
UTPB notified all law enforcement agencies in this area, and all responded to PHS. Upon receiving the call, ECISD police placed the school in lockdown, an emergency response in which all people inside the school take shelter within a locked room and all campus activities stop. All safety procedures were followed and officers were able to clear the school of any threat, deem it safe, and release the lockdown.
Law enforcement confirmed there was no shooter at Permian and there were no shots fired at the school, which was a claim made by the 911 caller, a news release detailed.
