Vicksburg Police Chief Walter Armstrong praised the action of school officials, his officers and officers of the Clinton Police Department’s Bomb Squad, who removed and detonated a suspected bomb found in a backpack in the library at Warren Central Junior High Wednesday.

After a school resource officer received information that a student had brought an explosive device to the school, the officer immediately and directly contacted Vicksburg Police, Armstrong said.

“I think everything was handled extremely well,” he said. “The school resource officer called us before calling 9-1-1 and we got there even before the 9-1-1 call went out. The school itself had already started to evacuate students.

“When we got the call, we sprung into action and brought our dog with us and were able to locate the device,” Armstrong said.

He said he didn’t know if the device was found by the Vicksburg Police Department’s bomb-sniffing dog, Thor, and his handler, officer Leonce Young, or if the dog was brought to the device after it was located.

“All I know is the dog alerted on the device,” Armstrong said.

That’s when Armstrong called in officials with the Clinton Police Department’s bomb squad to handle the device.

“When the dog alerted on it, we had more than one officer who saw the device inside the backpack. It was very clear to those officers that it was a device and that it could explode. I don’t know how it could have exploded, whether by a remote or a timer,” he said. “I’m very glad no one got injured or got hurt and that we quickly got to the device and have the student responsible.”

Armstrong said the device was removed from the school’s library by a robot used by the Clinton Police bomb squad and was taken outside the building and detonated.

Armstrong said two juveniles — he did not provide their ages but said they are junior high aged — were detained and questioned.

“We have the student who we believe responsible for bringing the device, and we have the other student who was seated close to that individual. We have not ruled out the second one yet, but I feel comfortable that we have the individual who brought the device to the school,” Armstrong said.

The two students taken into custody would be housed at the juvenile detention center, he said.

“We’ll look at the device, look at what it was made of, talk to the district attorney and determine what route we’re going to take in terms of charges from this point forward,” Armstrong said.