BATAVIA, N.Y. — The Batavia Police Department is continuing to investigate a call about a bomb on a school bus.
The Genesee County 911 dispatch received a call from a local business which had gotten a call about a "bomb on a school bus" Tuesday.
During the investigation, it was found that the call was fake and it allegedly came from an eight-year-old child on the bus, according to a Batavia Police Department.
When officers found the bus in question, it was empty, but out of extreme caution the bus was cleared by the New York State Police K-9 unit that specializes in explosives.
The case is now in the hands of the juvenile detective for Batavia police.
Batavia City School District superintendent Jason Smith issued a statement Tuesday evening about the incident:
To Our BCSD Community,
This afternoon, the Genesee County 911 Center received a call reporting there was a "bomb on a school bus" and placed the location of that bus in the City of Batavia.
The Batavia Police Department and New York State Troopers immediately responded to locate the bus (operated by Student Transportation of America). The bus was found on State Street, and there were no longer any students on the bus after completing the afternoon route.
Out of an abundance of caution, the New York State Police and their K9 unit performed a sweep of the bus in question and found no evidence of a credible threat.
The Batavia Police patrol officers and detectives investigated the call and determined it came from the home of a John Kennedy Intermediate student. The student confessed the call was a prank, and the BPD determined there was no additional threat to the district. The case has been turned over to the Batavia Police Department’s Juvenile Detective. BCSD will follow our Code of Conduct with respect to this incident as well.
All bus pickups will occur as usual tomorrow (Wednesday) without any disruption.
We thank the Batavia Police Department and New York State Police for their swift response.