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Two local high school campuses were paralyzed Thursday by violent threats that forced a full lockdown in Foxboro and a temporary evacuation in Wrentham.

Foxboro High School staff discovered a threatening message on the wall of a second-floor bathroom about 1 p.m., and students were locked down until about 4 p.m.

Approximately 12 police officers arrived, according to students, and systematically searched their belongings throughout the school.

"They locked us in rooms, came in and patted us down," said Jason Healy, a junior.

Sporting events at Foxboro High were canceled Thursday because of the incident. Parents and the news media lined up at the high school's entrance and waited for hours, occasionally receiving information from students inside who were prohibited from using their cell phones, but who quietly sent text messages, instead.

Chris Lowey, a school council member and parent representative, said Police Chief Edward O'Leary addressed the crowd at 3 p.m. to inform them of "logistics," such as when and how the students would be allowed to leave.

She said police were coping with "a very difficult situation" in having to coordinate the movement of so many students.

A half-hour later, acting as a liason for police, Selectman Jim Thrasher said that there was "no imminent danger" and "police are taking a methodical approach."

Parents had a mixed reaction.

"I'm sure the police have it under control. I just want to be here to support my daughter. I'm sure she's scared by this," said Tim Lally, one of the parents gathered outside the high school.

Another parent, however, who identified herself only as "a concerned mother of a junior," said she did not understand why the students needed to be sequestered for so long.

"I want them to let our children go home safely," she said. "They're safer with us than they are in there."

Around 4 p.m., buses carrying students rolled onto the road, followed shortly after by students in their cars, some beeping and honking at the crowd and seeming at ease.

Others were shaken, however. "I was very very scared at the beginning," said freshman Elena Dillon.

She and three school friends, also freshmen, said they were frustrated at being unable to contact their parents by cell phone for so long, though they understood the rationale behind the decision.

Jessica Randall, a junior who did not attend school Thursday because she was at a funeral, said the school had been in "Code Yellow" just the previous day.

She said that in the past two days, the school had been locked down for shorter periods following bomb threats.

A police statement released later confirmed that report.

Several students walking home, and others waiting for them, said the threat on the bathroom wall boasted 32 people would be killed, an apparent reference to last month's shooting massacre at Virginia Tech.

Earlier in the day, a bomb scare at King Philip Regional High School in Wrentham forced students, staff and construction workers to evacuate the school and delayed classes for about two hours.

Wrentham police said the scare, reported about 8 a.m., might be related to an incident last week in which a threatening note was found at the school.

The school was cleared Thursday after a note indicating there was a bomb in the school was discovered, Detective Sgt. William McGrath said.

Police from Wrentham, Plainville and Norfolk searched the school with the aid of state police and a state police bomb-sniffing dog, McGrath said.

Police also closed the entrances to the school.

A suspicious item, which police would not describe, was found in a stairwell at the school and was seized by police, along with other evidence, McGrath said.

School officials later notified parents by e-mail that nothing of concern was found after a thorough search of the school, including students' backpacks.

Students, staff and construction workers were allowed to return to the school about 10:15 a.m., McGrath said.

The incident remains under investigation, McGrath said, and is believed to be related to a threatening note found at the school April 25.

That note was found on a boys bathroom wall and threatened that somebody would die if school was held the following day. In that incident, police and school officials said the threat was not credible and classes were not canceled. There was a heavy presence of police at the school that following day, however.

In Thursday's incident, Francie Comeau said she arrived at the high school about 2 p.m. to pick up her 16 year old daughter and found police blocking the driveway. Comeau and numerous other parents gathered in the parking lot of a nearby church to await developments.

Comeau said information about what was going on in the school was hard to come by, fueling parents' worry.

"There were a lot of different rumors," she said.

Don Morse, who also has a daughter attending school, said he learned of the evacuation from a fellow parent at work and rushed to the school. Morse said he was upset that more information wasn't provided sooner to parents.

"It's appalling," he said.

In a message e-mailed to parents Thursday, King Philip Principal Elaine Hanson said the school was adopting a policy restricting the use of backpacks by students.

"Students may still bring their belongings to school in a bag or backpack, but we have instructed all students to store their backpacks in their lockers during the day," she wrote. "I also plan on meeting with high school staff (Thursday)afternoon to review the incident and protocols with them."

Hanson said Thursday's threat was written on a stall in a boys bathroom.

"The message referred to the perception that KP didn't take bomb threats

seriously," she wrote in the message to parents. "We immediately notified the Wrentham police, who sent several officers to investigate.

"Although this message was classified as a bomb scare because no specific threat was made, we made the decision on the recommendation of the police to evacuate and search the building."