05/19/2026
On May 19th 2026, the Oxford Police Department responded to a call of a bomb threat at the Oxford Middle School which came via a blocked-number phone call to the front office. OPD School Resource Officers on site immediately addressed the threat and the school was placed on lockdown. Once the first officers on scene made sure the students were safe, additional officers set up a perimeter and an incident command.
The school safety plan was then executed to evacuate the students and staff and take the students to the reunification site to be reunited with their families. Once the school was evacuated, officers and K-9 units then swept the school room by room to check for any threats within the building.
OPD investigators immediately began looking into the origin of the call once it came out. Through investigative techniques, they were able to trace the origin of the threat to a juvenile in Texas who is now in custody.
"The safety of the students in our community remains our top priority at the Oxford Police Department," said Chief Jeff McCutchen. "We are grateful for our relationship with the Oxford School District and their dedication to school safety. This is why it's so helpful to work together with our school district and other local emergency responders to train these scenarios like we did this past January."
We want to thank the dedicated members of the Oxford School District, the Oxford Fire Department, University Police Department, Lafayette County Metro Narcotics Unit, Lafayette County Sheriff's Department, Mississippi Highway Patrol, Southaven Police Department, MSU Police Department, Desoto County Sheriff's Office, Emergency Medical Services, and our staff at the Oxford Police Department for their tremendous and expedited response to this event.
