Several local school districts evacuated after bomb threats

BURGETTSTOWN, Pa. — Burgettstown Middle/High School and Avella and Fort Cherry school districts were evacuated on Monday due to bomb threats.

Burgettstown notified families that the district received an email regarding the threat and evacuated students.

Students were relocated to an area several miles from the school.

Police searched the building. Originally, students were going to return to the school, but they decided to cancel and sent all students home for the day.

In an update sent out on Monday afternoon, the Burgettstown district said an explosive-detecting dog was brought on-site and swept both schools. No suspicious devices were found, and the buildings are cleared to resume normal operations.

Email threats were also sent to Avella, Fort Cherry and California, according to school officials.

Fort Cherry evacuated and sent elementary students home while police investigated. High school students were evacuated to the football field until the buses could get them home.

Avella also received a threat and evacuated their buildings, the superintendent’s office confirmed.

California Area School District officials said they received an email bomb threat, but after working with local and state police, they determined the threat “noncredible” and continued to closely monitor the premises.

Over the weekend, state police opened an investigation into a threatening email sent to the Albert Gallatin School District. The sender did not name a specific school or district.

It is not known at this time if the schools received the same threat.

Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW

©2023 Cox Media Group