Officials evacuated 900 people from Mid Valley High School on Monday night during a basketball game against Holy Cross after a threat was posted on Twitter.
A two-hour delay is expected at Holy Cross High School this morning for police dogs to search the building, according to Principal Benjamin Tolerico. Mid Valley classes will start on time.
Students alerted school officials to the threat on the social media website at about 6:55 p.m., Superintendent Randy Parry said.
School officials alerted Throop police, the Lackawanna County district attorney's office and Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association officials at the game when they became aware of the threat, making the decision with law enforcement to postpone the game.
With roughly 4 minutes left in the first quarter, referees met with coaches from Mid Valley and Holy Cross. Players were sent to their respective locker rooms. Throop police and staff from Mid Valley evacuated people from the stands section by section and escorted people to the nearest exit, according to a statement released by the school district.
After the evacuation, law enforcement officials searched the building.
An 18-year-old male is a person of interest and being investigated, Deputy District Attorney Gene Riccardo said.
Olyphant police Officer-In-Charge Lewis Kline was on the scene at the person's home, but as of 9 p.m. Monday, no charges had been filed in the case, Deputy District Attorney Frank Castellano said.
Mr. Castellano said the investigation is ongoing and that all the proper and necessary steps were being taken to ensure safety - no one had been harmed and there is no reason to believe anyone will be harmed. He declined to give specifics of the investigation.
"Every precaution is being taken. There is no reason for panic. There is no reason to become overly alarmed," Mr. Castellano said.
The tweet said that if there was fighting between Holy Cross and Mid Valley students through social media after the basketball game, "harm would be done to both of them," Mr. Parry said.
"It was one person and one statement and that was evaluated by the team of police and the (district attorney)," he said, noting that all officials acted quickly. "We happened to have police and a representative from the DA's office on site."
Though the identity of the perpetrator was unavailable, Mr. Parry confirmed that it was not a Mid Valley student.
"We're checking the school for any suspicious packages," Mr. Parry said. "We have the K9 unit coming through tonight to make sure it's clear for tomorrow."
There will be a search protocol in place today when students arrive, and all bags will be searched.
Officials stopped the game with 3:55 remaining in the first quarter. It will resume at that point tonight at 7 with Holy Cross leading 9-8.
Contact the writers: ksullivan@timesshamrock.com, rbrown@timesshamrock.com, @ksullivanTT and @rbrownTT on Twitter