TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - The Latest on the police response to a bomb threat at a western Indiana high school (all times local):

5:15 p.m.

A western Indiana police chief says a caller who made threats against a high school claimed he had explosives and would start shooting students if he didn't receive a ransom.

Terre Haute Police Chief John Plasse (PLAS'-ee) says a male called the police department Friday morning saying he was in a bathroom at Terre Haute North High School with a firearm and a bag of explosives.

The caller said he'd start shooting students if he didn't receive a ransom within 10 minutes, or if students left the building. Plasse says the caller made other threats when he was transferred to police dispatch.

No bombs or weapons were found inside. Plasse asked for the public's help finding the caller, who he says "put a lot of people in fear today."

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3:43 p.m.

Students at a western Indiana high school are being sent home hours after police responded to a bomb threat at the school.

Terre Haute police spokesman Officer Ryan Adamson says Terre Haute North High School's 1,800 students were allowed to leave just before 3 p.m. Friday after a bomb-sniffing dog finished searching the school and found no bombs.

He says the threat remains under investigation and authorities hope to prosecute whoever is responsible.

Adamson says the threat "isn't funny and it's left a lot of people in anguish."

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1:30 p.m.

Police say a bomb-sniffing dog is searching a western Indiana high school that received a bomb threat.

Terre Haute Police Chief John Plasse (PLASS-ee) says the dog was checking Terre Haute North High School as a precaution Friday. He says there's no evidence that there are actually any explosives inside, "but we're going to check."

He says the school's 1,800 students grades nine through 12 were moved from classrooms to the gym while the dog conducted its search.

Plasse spoke to a group of agitated parents outside the school asking why their children had not been dismissed.

He told the parents the students would be released once the dog's search is completed and the students can return to classrooms to collect their belongings.

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12:55 p.m.

A district official says students and faculty are in no imminent danger following a bomb threat at a western Indiana school.

Vigo County School Corp. spokesman Mick Newport says students and faculty were told to shelter in place at Terre Haute North High School after the school received a call Friday morning from someone making a bomb threat.

Newport says no one has been injured and "there is no imminent threat" to the 1,800 students, grades nine through 12.

Newport did not comment on a Terre Haute Tribune-Star report that officers entered the school with weapons drawn.

Terre Haute is about 75 miles (120 kilometres) southwest of Indianapolis.

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12:45 p.m.

Police say about 50 officers are involved in the investigation of a bomb threat at a western Indiana school.

Terre Haute Police Chief John Plasse spoke to reporters Friday outside the Terre Haute North High School.

Plasse declined to provide details of the search and did not comment on a Terre Haute Tribune-Star report that officers stormed the still-occupied school with guns drawn.

He says students are being held in classrooms under safety protocols and that he wouldn't let them stay if he believed they were in danger.

Vigo County School Corp. spokesman Mick Newport says there was no imminent threat at school with about 1,800 students in grades 9-12.

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12:05 p.m.

An Indiana State Police spokesman says a threat that led to a lockdown at a western Indiana school is believed to be hoax.

Capt. David Bursten says "all indications are that this is a hoax call" that Terre Haute North High School received about a possible threat Friday. He says he doesn't have any details about the nature of the threat.

Bursten says there's been no shooting or explosion at the school, and no one has been injured.

He says there have been many similar threats against schools in the state recently and those were found to be hoaxes, likely made by students.

Bursten says Terre Haute police are leading the investigation into the incident.

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11:55 a.m.

Police officers are searching a western Indiana high school following a gun threat, and the students and faculty have been told to shelter in place.

Indiana State Police Sgt. Joe Watts says officers have found nothing so far following the threat Friday morning at Terre Haute North High School.

The Terre Haute Tribune-Star reported that officers entered the school with weapons drawn.

Watts told the Associated Press that officers from city, county and state police agencies are responding to the threat.

He says the school followed its own policy by having students shelter in place and announcing the potential danger.

Terre Haute is about 75 miles (120 kilometres) southwest of Indianapolis.

News from © The Associated Press, 2017