Bull Run Middle School in Virginia evacuated over bomb threat

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A middle school in Gainesville, Virginia, was evacuated after a teacher alerted police to a possible bomb threat.

Police in Prince William County said the bomb threat was discovered by a teacher on Friday morning, who found a note on the back of a door.

Students at the Bull Run Middle School in the Washington DC suburb were evacuated for safety, according to police, while investigators searched the building.

The students were taken to Battlefield High School, police said.

Investigators found no devices following a sweep of the school, with pictures from WJLA-TV on Friday morning showing police teams at the Bull Run school building.

An area around the school closed during the alert, which follows a number of similar threats made to schools in the US in the past twelve months.

Meanwhile in nearby Maryland on Thursday, police announced charges against a Clarksburg High school student accused of prompting three lockdowns of schools in the area after he was seen carrying a weapon.

He was charged as an adult for first-degree assault, possession of a handgun, handgun by a minor, and use of a handgun in the commission of a violent crime, WJLA-TV reported.

Prince William County police said in a later update that students and staff had returned to Bull Run Middle School and “Police will continue presence at the school as a precaution. The investigation into the note that was left continues.”

Authorities are asking for anybody with information to come forward about the fake threat to the school, about 35 miles west of Washington DC.