It's time for Scanner News, and I'm your host, Brian Hale, brought to you by RNC Welding in Gering, Nebraska.

Another swatting incident took place in the Panhandle yesterday. This one, Gering High School was the target.

A series of this type of calls is happening nationwide, with selected Walmarts being targeted recently, and now schools. On Thursday the 30th, at approximately 12:32 PM, the Scotts Bluff County Communications Center received a call on a non-emergent phone line indicating there was a threat at Gering High School. Officers from the Gering Police Department and deputies from the Scotts Bluff County Sheriff's Office responded.

School officials placed the building on lockdown out of abundance of caution. Law enforcement entered the building and were able to clear it without incident. The investigation revealed that this incident was a swatting call, and there was no threat to any students, staff, or visitors at the school.

Swatting incidents are intended to elicit a large emergency response and disrupt the functions of the targeted location. If you have any information related to this incident, we ask that you contact the Gearing Police Department.

Very busy night over scanner traffic.

Early this morning, there was a two vehicle accident with injuries, as well as several traffic complaints and fire calls. There was even a call for a vehicle versus pedestrian accident near East 27th Street and First Avenue near Pioneer Park in Scottsbluff. Scanner traffic indicated a 14-year-old female was hit by a car. We continue to ask people to please respect speed limits and school zones and the safety of our children. Please use an abundance of caution in school zones.

With all of the recent power outages, we installed a new tab on our website listing all of the local power companies and their outage maps. Look for it today under resources. That's panhandlescanner.com.

That's going to do it for today's scanner news. Thanks again for listening and may God bless. I'm Brian Hale.

No school today for Hay Springs. Due to 14 staff members and numerous students being sick, Hay Springs Schools is canceling school for today, April 30th. The elementary fourth and fifth grade music concert scheduled for today will be rescheduled. Boys golf will compete pending health of the team and coach. The school wrote that they apologize for any inconvenience that this cancellation will cause and continued that unfortunately they will not have adequate staff to run the school and they're hoping that this will allow staff and students time to rest and recuperate. No school for Hay Springs today.

Scanner traffic indicated that the Harrison Nebraska Volunteer Fire Dept. called for mutual aid in rural Harrison for a 14 yr old female who had a horse fall on her. Regional 3 went enroute immediately and a request for Air Link at Regional West was made. The patient was initially transported via ground ambulance by Mitchell Volunteer Fire Department, then transferred to Regional 3 for final transport.

There was a bomb threat yesterday at the Sidney Walmart. Sidney Police Department and multiple agencies responded to a high priority threat at the Walmart Super Center in Sidney at approximately 2.17 p.m. yesterday. A caller contacted the store claiming that an incendiary device was placed throughout the building and that an individual was armed with an AR-15 on his way to the store. The call has been determined to be a swatting incident, a dangerous hoax intended to trigger a large-scale emergency response. Walmart has confirmed that this appears to be part of a nationwide series of similar hoax calls. Sidney Walmart remained closed for the remainder of the day but reopened this morning at 6 a.m.

Last night's scanner traffic indicated horses out on highway 71 and highway 88. As of 2 a.m. the owners had not been located yet and the horses were still running free. Thank you to those who do report things to the Nebraska State Patrol using *55. Troopers were able to get a description but canceled the pursuit because they observed no actual violations other than running free.

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Let's start off with some crime news today. Lots of cases to report from around the panhandle. Let's start off in Alliance in Box Butte County. Thomas Wiendell, 74, pled no contest to a Class 3A felony charge of 3rd degree sexual assault of a child. Wiendell was originally charged with three different counts. Two other counts were plea bargained down.

You may remember the ATV or UTV crash on Highway 71 last weekend where scanner traffic indicated a rollover accident occurred near the Banner County / Scotts Bluff County line in the Wildcat Hills. Until now we had not learned the fate of the man due to the seriousness of the crash. Panhandle scanner has learned that the man is in critical condition still and still needs our prayers.

On Tuesday morning a large swath of Chimney Rock Public Power District's patrons were without power. To find our original post on that visit Panhandle scanner on Facebook where you'll find the outage map and a link to that site where you can check your area anytime there's a power outage. In fact there have been so many power outages lately we have added a tab on our website under PanhandleScanner.com under the resources tab.

Be sure to visit PanhandleScanner.com for more resources like Nebraska 10 Codes, Mile Markers, the Panhandle Alert System, Tornado Shelters and more. That's PanhandleScanner.com. And of course don't forget our public record every Monday through Friday when available. That's PanhandleScanner.com or on social media on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Threads and others.