A bomb threat called into Billerica Memorial High School Thursday morning sent police scrambling to keep students away from the building, rerouting incoming buses and gathering arriving teenagers on a field while a K-9 unit swept the campus for danger.
Billerica Police received the threat around 6:15 a.m., before classes had begun, according to NBC Boston. Officers turned away buses still en route, urged parents to keep their kids home from campus, and had school staff supervise students gathering on the field while a Northeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council K-9 unit searched the building, as detailed by Boston 25 News. Some students had already arrived at the school before the sweep was complete, and they waited on the field under faculty supervision until officers finished checking the building.
Police reported that students remained safe throughout the process and asked community members to avoid the area while the sweep continued. Once the building was cleared, students were allowed to head to their classes, and the Billerica Police Department said it is investigating the source of the threat and will share additional information when available.
A Regional K-9 Response
A Regional K-9 Response NEMLEC, the mutual-aid consortium that sent the K-9 unit to assist Billerica officers, draws together 68 municipal police departments and two county sheriff's departments across Middlesex and Essex counties, pooling shared tactical, K-9, and school threat assessment resources.
Billerica Memorial High School sits at 35 River Street within the Billerica Public Schools district. The Billerica Police Department, headed by Chief Roy Frost, maintains a dedicated School Resource Officer unit and uses the town's Regroup mass emergency communication system to push safety alerts to residents during incidents like this one.
Not the First False Alarm
Not the First False Alarm Thursday's scare was not the school's first brush with a disruptive threat call. On June 5, 2025, Billerica Memorial High School was placed on lockdown and dismissed students early after a 1 p.m. threat call that police later traced to three out-of-town juveniles who had no access to weapons or any real ability to carry out the threat, according to John Guilfoil Public Relations.
Steep Penalties, Growing National Problem
Steep Penalties, Growing National Problem Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 269, Section 14 provides penalties that include 3 to 20 years in state prison, up to 2.5 years in a house of correction, fines between $1,000 and $50,000, and mandatory restitution for emergency response costs, according to the Simons Law Office.
The disruption in Billerica also reflects a broader pattern playing out in schools nationwide. Industry data from safety technology company Omnilert estimates that school swatting and false emergency threats cost U.S. K-12 institutions more than $82.3 million in 2023.
Billerica Police have not announced any arrests or identified a suspect in Thursday's threat, and the investigation into who made the call remains ongoing.
