Bomb threat at Westhampton Beach schools prompts evacuations, officials say

Students at both Westhampton Beach High School and Middle School were evacuated to off-campus locations after district officials received "bomb threat calls" Friday, authorities said.

A spokesperson for the district said the calls were received "minutes apart" sometime around 10 a.m. — and said Westhampton Beach Village police were immediately notified.

New York State Police confirmed troopers assisted Westhampton Beach police investigating the threat — and referred all further calls to Westhampton Beach police. Westhampton Beach police were not immediately available for comment Friday, but the district spokesperson said village, town and state police conducted a sweep of the buildings and said a K-9 unit was involved in a final search.

No credible threat had been found as of 2 p.m.

In an online correspondence to district parents and guardians, Westhampton Beach Union Free School District Superintendent Carolyn J. Probst confirmed the threats — and said middle school students had been evacuated to the Westhampton Beach Fire Department location on Sunset Avenue, while high school students had been evacuated to St. Mark’s Church on Main Street in Westhampton Beach.

"A short while ago, both the Middle School and High School received bomb threat calls," the notice from Probst said, adding: "We have safely evacuated all Middle School and High School students and staff from the buildings and are moving them to our designated evacuation locations ... There will be bus transportation home for all students from the evacuation locations."

Probst said in the correspondence that no reported threats to the elementary school were received — and said she would communicate further "as soon as there are any updates."

In a separate incident on Friday morning, Center Moriches schools went into lockout mode, which prevents anyone from leaving or coming into a building, around 10:20 a.m. after Suffolk County police informed school officials of a pursuit of a person nearby, Superintendent Ricardo Soto said in a letter to families on Friday.

Police said the man, who was wanted in connection with a domestic incident in Moriches, fled into the woods around 9:25 a.m. The man, who was unarmed, then fled in a vehicle, police said. An investigation is ongoing.

Lockout mode pertains to a threat outside a building, compared to lockdown mode, where a threat may be inside a building, Soto told Newsday in a phone interview.

The three schools that make up the district — Clayton Huey Elementary School, Center Moriches Middle School and Center Moriches High School — came out of lockout status about 10:37 a.m. when they received clearance from police.