JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Twin Lakes Middle School was given the all-clear after a bomb threat Tuesday morning.
According to Duval County Public Schools, Twin Lakes Middle received a bomb threat around 9 a.m.
School buses were diverted to Atlantic Coast High School, and student walkers were diverted to Twin Lakes Elementary School until the Code Red was lifted.
"She's freaked out," parent Thomas Dosedel said of his daughter, who's a student at the school. "It took a while for her to calm down. She was in for a math test makeup, and they evacuated the school to the back at first, and then to the other school. All the other kids are rattled."
This was the third bomb threat at the school this month.
"I think the kids come to learn and I don't think they want to get pulled out of class," said Kristina Lopez, who works nearby. "You're interrupting their education. I think it's affecting them big time. They have tests to prepare for. I don't think they should be pulled out. I mean, look at the weather."
News4Jax crime and safety analyst Gil Smith said when a threat is called in, it's up to the principal to decide whether to evacuate. Once police are called, officers analyze the situation and call the K-9 unit if necessary. The dogs are trained to sniff for explosive devices and would notify officers if something is found.
"Most bomb threats that are called in are bogus," Smith said. "People know that phone calls can be traced, so in the past people would call in on payphones and not leave any fingerprints behind. They could use a stolen cellphone or someone else's phone, and maybe the person doesn't know they are using it. So it's very difficult to catch the person who did that."
Dosedel hopes whoever is making the threats will stop scaring so many people.
"Find a better way to spend your time," he said. "This is not being a good citizen or a good human being. And you're terrifying thousands of kids that go here every day. It doesn't make you stronger, it doesn't make you anything but a coward."
Smith said making a bomb threat is a third-degree felony.