Police, Bomb Squad Respond to Fox Lane MS; Students Evacuate

A report of a handwritten note—which included the word "bomb"—on a bathroom wall at Fox Lane Middle School led to an evacuation and a heavy police presence there Tuesday afternoon, the district confirmed.

"As a precautionary measure, all middle school students were evacuated to the high school and their parents were notified immediately," Carole LaColla, district clerk, said in a statement issued at about 3:25 p.m. "Bedford Police and the [Westchester] County bomb squad personnel arrived to 'sweep' the building. When school officials received an 'all-clear' from the Bedford Police, the middle school students returned to their school and prepared for their regular dismissal."

The commotion caused school buses at the Fox Lane campus to run about 15 minutes behind schedule, which delayed the vehicles from arriving on time for dismissal at the elementary schools. The district said parents were contacted through the all-call notification system.

"We thank parents for their patience during this incident and these delays," the statement reads. "We also thank our middle school students and staff for a very orderly response to this incident."

While bomb threats at the middle school are not new - Tuesday's incident was the second of its kind in less than two years - the most recent one is the first since the mass shooting at a Newtown, CT elementary school that left scores of students and teachers dead.

Tom Auchterlonie contributed to this article.