Bomb hoax at Columbine High sends 24 Jefferson County schools into hours-long "lockout"

Noelle Phillips, Joe Rubino & Matt Sebastien
Denver Post
Fri, 14 Dec 2018 11:26 UTC

© KUSA

An anonymous caller who claimed bombs had been planted inside Columbine High School on Thursday morning led to an aggressive police response and a decision to place more than 20 schools in the Jefferson County area on "lockout" status.

No evidence of explosives or any other threat was found following a search of Columbine, officials said. Three hours after the threat was called in, Jefferson County Public Schools announced that all lockouts had been lifted except the one at Columbine, which would remain in place the rest of the school day.

"The kids are safe. The staff is safe," Jefferson County sheriff's spokesman Mike Taplin said. "A controlled release (of students) is planned for end of the day."

Jefferson County sheriff's officials said the threat that "multiple explosives" had been planted inside Columbine - site of the horrific 1999 massacre - came in around 9:20 a.m.

"The person claimed to be hiding outside with a gun," Taplin said. "The perimeter was searched and secured. The school was placed on lockout. So far we have not found anything to validate the threats that have been made."

As a precaution, all schools in the Columbine, Chatfield and Dakota areas were placed on lockout, which means all students are held inside the building and entry is restricted, according to a tweet from the Jefferson County School District.

First responders established a command post in a parking lot in Clement Park, near the corner of South Pierce Street and West Bowles Avenue.

Officials could not say exactly how many people responded to the threat, but agencies involved in the response included the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, JeffCo R1 Security, a school district security agency, Littleton Fire Rescue, Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the Morrison Police Department.

The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office in a tweet asked parents to stay away from Columbine during the lockout and assured them that their students were safe. Students were released at 2:45 p.m.

"Unfortunately, we receive many threats like this to Columbine and we respond to each threat appropriately, which is what we're doing now," Taplin said.

The response was appropriate because the person who logged the threat claimed to be lying in wait with a gun outside, Taplin said.

Comment: CBS Denver reports that this bomb hoax was part of a string of fake threats across the US:

Nothing dangerous has been found after a threat of explosives was called in about Columbine High School on Thursday morning. A total of 24 different Jefferson County schools were placed on lockdown. Those lockdowns were lifted a few hours later and at 12:45 p.m., it was determined the threat at Columbine was not substantiated.

The school threat was linked to dozens of other similar threats nationwide, according to the Colorado Office of Emergency Management.

A wave of bomb threats emailed Thursday to hundreds of schools, businesses and government buildings across the U.S. triggered searches, evacuations and fear. Law enforcement agencies across the country dismissed the threats, saying they were meant to cause disruption and compel recipients into sending money and were not considered credible.

The police response was one of the biggest seen at Columbine due to a school threat since 12 students and a teacher were killed inside the school on April 20, 1999.

"Unfortunately we receive many threats like this to Columbine. We respond to each threat appropriately, which is what we're doing now," Taplin said.