An investigation continues into a phone threat at Robertsdale High School which led to a lockdown Tuesday and about half of the student body calling in absent on Wednesday.

There were 140 students reported absent on Thursday, down from the 740 who missed school on Wednesday and one day after an out-of-state phone threat was placed at the school. The caller, who authorities say is from the northeast, threatened to shoot up the school on Tuesday.

The average daily number of absences at Robertsdale High School is around 80.

“I’m sad to see parents felt like they needed to keep their children at home today,” Superintendent Eddie Tyler said Thursday. “The safest place to be in is in our schools right now. Law enforcement is at the ready.”

It was the second time in less than one year that a school within the Baldwin County School System received an out-of-state phone call that prompted a lockdown and widespread absences.

A phone-call threat about a bomb at Daphne Middle School led to the school’s evacuation and a lockdown at next-door Daphne East Elementary School in January. Authorities said the call was placed in California, and that it involved juveniles.

No one was prosecuted in that case.

“The only positive thing is we’re not seeing this coming from kids here in our system,” Tyler said after a ribbon cutting for new gymnasium at Elberta High School. “When this came to us, it was coming from states away … in the north end (of the country). The Daphne Middle School incident (last school year) came from out West. It’s sad. It’s the sign of the times.”

Tyler added, “Society forgives, for the most part, some of these things individuals just do. Somehow the court system will just forgive it. Sometimes politicians just forgive it. When you deal with a young person who is 15 or 16 years old, they know what they are doing. There needs to be punitive action.”

It’s unclear if the caller involved in the Roberstdale High School threat was a juvenile. The FBI is part of the investigation.

Misinformation concerns

Tyler said he was disappointed to see 740 students absent on Wednesday, saying that Baldwin County’s schools are “the safest places to be.” He noted there are trained and armed school resource officers (SROs) placed at each of the county’s school buildings.

He also apologized if parents felt that information released about the lockdown was not disseminated to parents fast enough. But he also said that the school system was not going to release information that was not accurate.

He said the school system’s communications department “is not putting out information unless it’s solid and correct.”

Tyler added, “If I do that too rapidly, we have to back up and apologize. We’ll continue to act in a due diligence manner that is responsible and respectful in getting everything right.”

It appears the lockdown drew its share of social media misinformation. Robertsdale police and principal William White posted statements to Facebook alerting residents not to spread rumors and misinformation.

Among the concerns was a screenshot of a threatening social media post from 2022 which started making the rounds on Wednesday morning.

Also of concern, according to Robertsdale police, was a photograph circulating online of what “appears to be a student walking next to a uniformed Robertsdale Police Officer,” hinting that there had been an arrest made on campus.

“This is not a current photo, nor does it have anything to do with the events of (Tuesday),” the police report says. “If a person(s) was taken into custody by our agency, it would have been reported to local news media and a statement would have been issued on our Facebook page.”

‘Trust law enforcement’

Robertsdale police confirmed the out-of-state connection with the phone call, and that authorities are “working closely with federal agencies on apprehending the person responsible.”

“All other reports of threats by social media are being actively investigated and there continues to be a heavy police presence at area schools in response to those reports.,” the agency said.

Police also urged the public to “be calm and have trust” in law enforcement.

“We worry and stress about the safety of your children just as much as we do,” the Facebook post reads. “We are humans, we are parents, we are husbands and wives. Our children go to the same schools that yours do. All the same concerns that you have, we have. Please take comfort in knowing that we will do everything I our power to plan, prepare and protect our children. That will never change.”