CHESAPAKE, Va. — The Chesapeake Police Department and Fire Department are investigating a bomb threat that was placed against B.M. Williams Primary School in Chesapeake on Wednesday afternoon.
According to police, they were made aware of the threat at 12:14 p.m. Police responded to the scene, and an investigation is ongoing.
Chesapeake Fire officials told News 3 the school went on lockdown after first responders learned of the threat.
"I'm just really worried," one B.M. Williams parent told News 3. "It is disrupting their learning time as well, and I’m just afraid that something might happen when I’m not here."
This is the second day in a row that a threat has been placed against the school.
"We take these things extremely seriously, especially when it comes to our children," Capt. Steven Bradley, Assistant Fire Marshal with the Chesapeake Fire Dept. told News 3.
On Tuesday, police said they obtained an email with threats against the school, indicating the presence of a bomb.
This comes in the aftermath of the establishment of an After School Satan Club (ASSC) on the school property, which sparked controversy within the community.
The threat on Tuesday also targeted a volunteer with the ASCC, an attorney with the Virginia chapter of the ACLU, and Chesapeake Superintendent Jared Cotton.
Chesapeake Fire officials said the language in the email linked to Wednesday's threat is very similar to Tuesday's situation.
"We’re not going to speculate on the motive, but obviously, the language being very similar in nature," Bradley said.
No bomb was found on any of the properties in question after an investigation.
Chesapeake Fire officials a different email address was used Wednesday, but they're investigating whether it's the same person behind both messages.
"We’re going to continue to investigate each and every threat to the fullest," Bradley said. "If we are able to determine where the threat sources are, we will absolutely prosecute to the extent of the law."
Bradley said situations like this are not only disruptive for students, but can also be a drain on resources.
"Schools are rather big. There’s a lot of hallways, a lot of rooms, [and] all of those have to be checked," Bradley said. "In addition to that, we make sure that we check the perimeter of the school, and locking down any access to and from the school itself. It takes a lot of equipment, it takes resources to commit for an extended period of time, typically one to two hours I’d say would be a good average, and those are officers and fire marshals that could be out on the street assigned to other tasks."
Wednesday's investigation will be handled by the Chesapeake Fire Department's Fire Marshal's Office, according to the school district.
Bradley said they'll work with Chesapeake Police and the FBI on Wednesday's incident.
A spokesperson for Virginia State Police told News 3 the agency assisted with the incident.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the FBI's Norfolk Field Office released this statement to News 3 on Wednesday:
"The FBI takes threats to the public very seriously. We work closely with our local law enforcement partners to assess and respond to threats and keep our community safe. The FBI does not confirm or deny, or otherwise provide updates, on specific investigations. The Chesapeake Fire Marshal’s Office is the lead investigative agency. I refer all further inquiries to them."
As for the B.M. Williams parent News 3 talked with, she said she hopes this doesn't happen again.
"It’s a little stressful not knowing if they’re going to get another threat, if I have to come pick him up early, [or] if something will happen," she said.
