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Windham school administrators evacuated Manchester Elementary School Tuesday because of a bomb threat, but the building was cleared and nothing dangerous was found after a search by police.

Windham police were notified of the threat between 10:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. and immediately called for assistance from Maine State Police, who provided two search dogs trained in detecting explosives, said Windham police Chief Kevin Schofield.

School administrators cleared the building of students, who were temporarily moved to Windham High School for the remainder of the school day.

A notice posted on the RSU 14 website announced the evacuation Tuesday afternoon and instructed parents to pick up their children at the high school.

Schofield said the threat was discovered inside the school and written on a wall. Although the threat did not specify any person or location in the building, administrators and police took the threat seriously and ordered a search of the building.

Schofield declined to describe the content of the threat, and said the matter remains under investigation.

Under state law, anyone who communicates a threat that results in a building or other place of assembly to be evacuated may be charged felony terrorizing, a class-C crime punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

Matt Byrne has covered crime and public safety for the Press Herald since 2016. It is his second beat since being hired at the Press Herald in late 2012, when he left the Boston Globe's suburban news bureau....

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