SCRANTON, Pa. -- Both high schools in Scranton were evacuated on Tuesday after anonymous threats were made.
Just before noon, the district announced the evacuation of Scranton High School.
West Scranton High School was evacuated earlier Tuesday following the school's third bomb threat in less than a week.
The students were moved to nearby West Scranton Intermediate School for about an hour as Scranton police again searched the building. As soon as the threat was ruled unfounded, students were brought back into class.
The district attorney now says that each threat is being investigated and he plans to file charges if the person making the threat is caught.
Threats were made only hours apart at both high schools in the city Tuesday morning, prompting evacuations at Scranton High School and at West Scranton High School.
After a sweep of West Scranton High School, police officers ushered students back into the building, a scene Daria Benedict has become used to over the past week.
"It's like, 'Again?' Come on, these kids need to go to school. This needs to stop. I think somebody thinks it's a joke," Benedict said.
After investigating the third anonymous threat of violence at West Scranton High School, police officers moved over to Scranton High School for yet another threat investigation, the second there in as many days.
Students sat in the stands at Memorial Stadium waiting for officers to finish searching the school.
Though all threats have been unfounded, parents say the fear is real. Dozens lined up outside both schools waiting to sign their children out of class.
"It's ridiculous, for the students, for the police officers, for you guys, for everybody, for the parents. It's scary. The kids are scared. We're scared. We don't know. It's the third time. Should we just let it go or just go get our child? And then you think to yourself if you don't get your child and this is not a fake thing, what do you do?" Karianne Denhaese said.
Scranton School District's superintendent says the most recent threat was found written on a wall at Scranton High School. The four others over the past week were sent in over an anonymous reporting app called Safe 2 Say.
"It's becoming too much. It's every day, and how can you not find out where it's coming from? Where's the FBI?" asked West Scranton parent Jessica O'Donnell.
If caught, whoever is making the threats could face felony charges.
Lackawanna County's district attorney and Scranton's police chief released a joint statement saying in part:
"We are committed to following these investigations to conclusion and all individual(s) responsible will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."
We spoke with the Scranton School District superintendent who said that the district is cooperating with that investigation and that the district will continue to keep student safety a top priority.