SALEM — All students were safely evacuated after a bomb threat canceled classes for the day and forced a change in polling location at Salem Junior / Senior High School on Tuesday.

“We had a lot of agencies collaborating to make sure all our kids were safe,” schools Superintendent Sean Kirkland said.

Kirkland said that the threat was made to the Salem Police Department through the 911 emergency line and the call had been taken directly by police Chief J.T. Panezott, who considered the call a viable threat and contacted the school administration, who ordered the evacuation of all students and staff.

Kirkland said the district has protocols in place to respond to emergency situations that were enacted swiftly and efficiently, evacuating all students and staff in the building to the First Christian Church across the street with no injuries or issues.

The polling location for precincts 3B and 3C was also moved to the church where voters were deciding on the district’s new building levy.

“The evacuation could not have run any smoother. I was extremely proud of the staff and students; they were very focused and very serious in their response. We had over 600 kids evacuated to the church and safely taken home by 9:10 a.m., and that is due to their training and how serious and focused they were in their response,” said Kirkland.

Kirkland’s praise for the evacuation process was shared by Panezott, who said he “couldn’t be any more proud” of the administration and teachers at the school for how they responded to the situation. Panezott said that because the staff had handled the evacuation so well, emergency response personnel had been able to focus their attention primarily on the investigation. Panezott also noted that the department had sent officers to the rest of the schools in the city to keep them apprised of the situation.

“It became so crystal clear how much those teachers care about our kids,” said Panezott.

Kirkland said a full sweep was conducted of the building after the evacuation with every locker, room and floor of the school checked by the responding agencies, including the deployment of bomb-sniffing dogs from the Youngstown Bomb Squad. Panezott noted the explosive-sniffing dogs from the Canfield and Akron Children’s Hospital police departments and the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office also were deployed.

The emergency response and investigation were a collaborative effort with agents from the Salem police and fire departments, the Canfield Police Department, the East Palestine Police Department, the Youngstown Bomb Squad, the Akron Children’s Hospital Police Department, the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Ohio Attorney General’s Office all participating.

Panezott said he was very happy with how well all the agents had been able to work together and collaborate to ensure the safety of students and staff.

Panezott said the police department has an out-of-state suspect it is pursuing in conjunction with the FBI and that they hope to make an arrest soon. He said the department would be pursuing “the most serious charges available to them.”

“We take this very seriously and will use every asset available to us to track this down,” Panezott said.

Panezott noted that much of the investigation in this case will be done through digital forensic analysis.

All evening athletic and school events moved forward for those who still wanted to participate. Classes are scheduled to resume as normal today.

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