Greater New Bedford Voc-Tech Subject of Bomb Threat

NEW BEDFORD (WBSM) — Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School was the target of a bomb threat Thursday evening, but a search did not turn up any “dangerous items.”

WBSM received a copy of a letter that was sent out by GNB Voc-Tech Superintendent-Director Michael Watson Thursday evening to “all GNBVT students, families, faculty and staff” to inform that a bomb threat was discovered at about 5:30 p.m. on March 23.

School administrators contacted Massachusetts State Police, New Bedford Police and the New Bedford Fire Department to investigate.

"Out of an abundance of caution, K9 dogs trained to detect explosive materials were called to the scene to conduct a search of the premises," New Bedford Police spokesperson Lt. Scott Carola said. "No dangerous items were located."

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Watson said classes and activities would resume as scheduled on Friday, March 24 but that there would be an increased law enforcement presence on the school’s campus.

Read the Letter Sent By Superintendent-Director Watson

When WBSM attempted to check the GNB Voc-Tech website for any additional information late Thursday night into early Friday morning, the school’s website was down with a static page from Wordpress that reads “There has been a critical error on this website” along with a link for troubleshooting Wordpress.

It is unknown if the website being down is related to the threat. The website was back online later Friday morning.