Suffolk News-Herald

City police and firefighters stayed busy Friday responding to &uot;emergencies&uot; that cropped up at several city schools.

A 16-year-old was arrested Friday after allegedly threatening to bomb a Lakeland High School classroom occupied by students and a teacher.

This is the second bomb threat at the school in as many days. Friday’s bomb threat was made around 10:45 a.m., said Lt. Debbie J. George, spokeswoman for the Suffolk Police Department.

After school administration and police investigated the threat, a felony petition was secured against the juvenile.

On Thursday, police charged former Lakeland student Frederick T. &uot;Freddie&uot; Gallegos, 19, of Nansemond Avenue, with one count of threatening phone calls and one count of threatening to bomb, said Gallegos, released on $2,500 bond Friday, will be in court for a preliminary hearing May 26.

Other incidents include:

nAn anonymous caller reported a fire on the second story of King’s Fork Middle School, said Capt. James T. Judkins, spokesman for the Suffolk Department of Fire and Rescue.

School officials were not aware of the call until firefighters arrived on the scene, he said.

An investigation revealed that the call originated from a cell phone and was made by a female, he said.

The incident is still under investigation.

nAlso on Friday, two Elephant’s Fork Elementary School students were suspended pending an administrative hearing for violating Suffolk Public Schools’ weapons policy.

Bethanne Bradshaw, spokeswoman for the school system, said the youngsters, both under age 10, brought shell casings to the school.

&uot;The shell casings may have been from an air gun starter pistol, typical of the kind used at sporting events,&uot; said Bradshaw.

The students involved were in the first- and fourth-grades.

The casings were turned over to Suffolk police officers for proper disposal, she said.