FLANDREAU — A bomb threat called into the Flandreau Public School this morning led to the evacuation of students from the facility.

“The big thing is everybody is safe — what law enforcement has given me to release is that the school received a bomb threat at about 9:10 this morning from a male caller,” Moody County Public Information Officer Marty Skroch said in a phone interview.

“They got all students and staff evacuated from the building,” he added. “At that point they started a reunification for the students at the Flandreau Santee Sioux tribe’s educational center — it’s a big gym and community center they have out at the tribal grounds.

“Multiple agencies responded and at this point, as far as I know, they’re still clearing the building,” Skroch said. “There’s a couple of pre-schools that are close by; they evacuated those as well, (but) I don’t know if they’re going through those.”

This is a breaking news story. Further updates will be noted as they come in.

Update No. 1, 1:15 p.m.

Approximately 25 law enforcement officers took part in response to the bomb threat, according to information from the Moody County Sheriff's Office, and the school building has now been released back to school administrators.

In addition to the Moody County Sheriff's Office, other responding agencies included: Flandreau Police Department, Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribal Police Department, Lake County Sheriff's Office, Madison Police Department, South Dakota Highway Patrol, South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks, Flandreau Fire Department and the Moody County Ambulance.

Update No. 2, 2:15 p.m.

An investigation into the source of the phone call is planned, according to Moody County Sheriff Troy Wellman.

“We’re trying to find the phone number, if we can, through the phone system that showed up blocked at the school,” he said in a video posted on social media. “So we’re trying to do some diligence so we can find out whose that was and look into it further at that point.”

Wellman added that students were returned to the school after a search found no immediate threat, if they hadn’t already been picked up by their parents.

“Thank you for your patience and allowing us to help our kids have a safe education,” he said.

Update No. 3, 3:45 p.m.

A second bomb threat was called into Flandreau Public School this afternoon, and the facility was evacuated for a second time, according to information on the school district's Facebook page. 

"All students are currently safe and all grades are at the park next to the city pool," the district wrote in its post. "All school activities for the evening are being canceled." Those activities include the junior high and high school volleyball matches. 

The latest update, as of 3:45 p.m., indicated that all of the students were being taken to the Tribal Community Center, where parents could pick them up.

— Contact Mondell Keck at mkeck@brookingsregister.com.