This evening at approximately 6:11pm, a suspicious item was located by a community member on an athletics field at Sherwood Middle School. 911 was called, and law enforcement arrived on scene and evacuated the area. Officers contacted the Explosive Detonation Unit (EDU), who confirmed the item was a homemade explosive device. The EDU proceeded with a safe and controlled detonation of the device at approximately 7:02pm; we have received reports that the sound of this detonation was heard throughout the area surrounding the middle school campus.
Immediately following this event, law enforcement and District staff began conducting a thorough search of the entire Sherwood Middle School grounds, and team members will also be conducting searches of the grounds at all district facilities this evening to ensure they are cleared and safe for use tomorrow. At this time, we anticipate that all schools in our district will be open for school tomorrow as per the regular schedule, following the completion of these searches this evening. We will confirm the completion of these searches in a follow-up communication prior to the start of the school day tomorrow morning. Our team is collaborating closely with the Sherwood Police Department on this matter to ensure the safety of our campuses, and we are thankful for their partnership in responding to this alarming event.