BETHEL – For the third time in a week, a bomb scare caused the evacuation of Telstar Middle/High School on Monday afternoon.

“It was the same type of note written on a wall,” said Superintendent David Murphy of the hand-scrawled message on a high school boy’s bathroom. “We determined it was credible and we moved the kids out about 12:30 (p.m.).”

As in the May 7 and May 11 incidents, the message did not contain specific information about when or where a bomb might be detonated. Messages were found in the high school boy’s bathroom and in the middle school boy’s bathroom in the earlier incidents.

“We’re pursuing this aggressively,” Murphy said.

Bethel police Chief Alan Carr said state troopers and their dogs scoured the school for three to four hours this time. “We’re working on leads,” he said of the ongoing investigation.

“The school will probably have to put tighter reins on people in the school,” said Carr, who acknowledged that he has talked to administrators about re-instituting use of the metal detector that was purchased about six years ago when a series of bomb threats disrupted the high school.

On Monday, students were again immediately evacuated from the school by bus. Middle school students went to the Crescent Park Elementary School and the high school students to Gould Academy.

Murphy said that at some point a determination may have to made about making up class time being lost by the disruptions.

“All the students have to participate in these disruptions when they would rather wrap up the school year on a positive note,” Murphy said.

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