Cardinal-WACO volleyball cancelled due to threat
Sep. 10—WAYLAND — Thursday night's scheduled Southeast Iowa Superconference south division volleyball match between Cardinal and WACO was cancelled on Thursday night due to a credible threat against an individual who was attending the event.
The WACO Community School District issued a statement about the incident. According to school officials, the Henry County Sherriff Department notified the school of the threat. The match was immediately cancelled with all participants and fans in attendance asked to exit in an orderly fashion.
Henry County, Wayland Police, Mount Pleasant and Iowa State Patrol responded and quickly helped secure school grounds, according to the statement.
"At no time was the individual who made the threat against another on campus, or near campus," WACO principal Tim Bartels said. "We took precautions to protect students and families.
Henry County officials reported to Bartels that a suspect is in custody.
"There is no threat to any individual," Bartels said. "I do want to let everyone know that this was not a threat against the school or our students. We were hosting an event where that individual could find another individual.
"When we knew that we would shut the game down, we moved players to secure locations where we could account for them and moved players practicing to secure locations where parents could be contacted. I cannot tell you how impressed I am with the response from our students, staff and community. Adversity comes and we have continually faced it with respect, compassion and willingness to help in any way.
WACO had school as scheduled on Friday with officers on campuses in addition to counseling if students or staff need support. Neither school has announced when or if the match will be played.
Cardinal hosts West Burlington in SEISC south division volleyball action on Tuesday.
