On Feb. 24, students at Liberty High School in Carroll County arrived expecting another standard day of classes and hallway traffic. However, unbeknownst to some of the students and staff, the threat of a bomb on campus surfaced after school had let out.

At approximately 3 pm, the school issued an evacuation order after becoming aware of a tip that there could potentially be an explosive inside the building. All parents received emails alerting them about the dangerous situation.

“All the drama kids and all the clubs were standing outside and were being evacuated to the elementary school,” junior Meghan Jacobs described. Jacobs had already left at the regular dismissal time of 2:20 pm and was on her way back to the school for Spring concussion testing when she saw the scene unfold.

Liberty High School declared a “Code Red” until around 11:20 pm today after law enforcement declared the building secure (Photo courtesy of patch.com).

Detectives and K-9 units searched the premises for any indication of hazardous equipment. With extreme caution, the school opened at its regular time Wednesday morning.

However, the situation only intensified, to the Liberty community’s dismay. A single sentence was found written on one of the walls of a boys’ restroom: “You’re going to pay for erasing my last threat.”

Granted, reckless behavior can be characteristic of teenagers, and some may claim they were “joking” when making unwarranted, threatening remarks, but the Carroll County school system wanted to ensure the safety of its students and staff under any circumstance.

Immediately, a Code Red was called, which demanded a halt to instruction and for all students and staff to remain where they were. Police officers were stationed outside the restroom in question as rumors began floating throughout the student body.

“I was stuck in the media center for 2 hours,” Jacobs said. “I heard there was possibly a gun.” The crime scene unit arrived as panic spread.

According to the Carroll County Times, operations returned to normal at around 11:20 am. Detectives have begun questioning people of interest, wanting to ensure the absolute protection of Liberty High School, as the students are left to wonder if the threat was legitimate or a sickeningly convoluted “joke.” Details of the investigation are still pending.