Natchez High School was evacuated just passed 9 a.m. Tuesday after the school received a bomb threat.

The school was secured by local law enforcement within 3 to 5 minutes of receiving the call, said Zandra McDonald, Deputy Superintendent of Natchez Adams School District. McDonald said the threat came from one of the copying machines in the building, and the school evacuated students immediately.

“The campus has been evacuated and local law enforcement have secured the campus,” McDonald said shortly after the incident Tuesday morning. “We want to make sure people are aware that everyone is safe.”

Students were moved to the Steckler Multipurpose Building and were later dismissed early on busses starting at 11 a.m. as an added precaution, said the district Public Relations Coordinator Tony Fields.

Natchez Police Chief Walter Armstrong said investigators believe the threat had been sent internally from a computer within the school to a copy machine in the school.

Nothing out of the ordinary was found on the campus after the initial search. However, the school responded to the threat as if it were real to ensure students and staff were kept safe, Armstrong said.

The Natchez Police Department, Adams County Sheriff’s Office, the Natchez Fire Department and ambulance teams all responded to the incident, Armstrong said, adding K9 units from Jackson and Collins have were called in to sweep the campus and all was clear.

Classes will resume Wednesday.

“A lot of resources were expended for this incident at a high cost, as they should be, to ensure public safety,” Armstrong said. “These threats are very serious and any persons found liable for causing the interruption should be punished severely.”

Armstrong said the threat is very unfortunate for both the students, their families and to the community.

“This has been a huge interruption for the school’s daily activities,” Armstrong said. “Kids need to be in school learning and because of this bomb threat they are unable to do so. Our job now is to determine who sent (the threat) from where, but our top priority was to ensure that all of the students and staff were a safe distance away from the school. We ask anyone with any information about this incident to come forward.”

Armstrong said those with any information can contact the Natchez Police Department at 601-445-5565 or call Crime Stoppers at 601-442-5000 to report information anonymously.