Bomb Hoax Empties School Attended by AIDS Brothers
An anonymous bomb threat briefly emptied an elementary school today just as three brothers who have been exposed to the AIDS virus arrived for classes, officials said.
Richard Ray, 10, Robert, 9, and Randy, 8, were attending school for the second day since their parents won a federal court fight to get them enrolled.
A team of 20 DeSoto County sheriff’s deputies searched “every nook and cranny” of Memorial Elementary School for 40 minutes, but found nothing, and classes resumed, Sheriff Joe Varnadore said.
Although attendance was slightly higher today than Monday, many parents followed through on a threat to boycott the first week of school if the Ray brothers were allowed to attend. Of the school’s total enrollment of 632, 380 were present today, compared to 337 Monday.
Two bomb threats were called in to the school administration office just about 8 a.m., Principal Donald Knoche said. One caller said there was a bomb in the school and the other simply said “Boom!” and hung up.
On Monday, police and sheriff’s deputies had patrolled the school, but there were no incidents. (Story, Page 4.)
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