Columbine High School evacuated following bomb scare

Thursday, March 1, 2007

Reports say that an evacuation has taken place at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado after a bomb threat was phoned into the school.

"All we know at this point is that there is a bomb threat and that the school has been evacuated. Most of the threats that have been associated to that school made reference to past events that occurred there. But a bomb threat to a school is as serious at any school as it is at Columbine," said Jacki Kelley, spokeswoman for the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office. Kelley added that all people evacuated from the school were initially sent to a park near the school, and that more than one threat was made against the school.

Kelley also added that the threats began at about 9:30am local time (4:30 PM UTC).

According to Reuters, police have found no evidence of explosives at the scene. However, the bomb squad is still searching and bomb-sniffing dogs are also being used to search the school.

According to Marlene Desmond, spokesperson for Jefferson County Schools, there are over 1,850 students at the high school. The entire school was evacuated upon receipt of the bomb threat.

In 1999, the school was the scene of a massacre when Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, both students at the school, shot and killed 13 people before taking their own lives. This is the 10th in a series of threats the school faced since then, and is the second time the threats caused the school to evacuate and send students home.

In an exclusive interview Jim Shires, Public Information Officer for the Jefferson County Sheriff told Wikinews that it is unknown if this incident was referenced in the current bomb threat.

"We won't know more until we speak with the people who actually took the call," Shires said. He added that the school would be closed for the remainder of the day while the investigation continues.

Sources

This exclusive interview features first-hand journalism by a Wikinews reporter. See the collaboration page for more details.

"Columbine Evacuated After Bomb Threat" — Forbes, March 1, 2007
"Bomb threat at Columbine school" — BBC News, March 1, 2007
"Columbine High School evacuated on bomb threat" — Reuters, Mar 1, 2007
"Columbine High Bomb Alert" — Sky News, March 1, 2007
Associated Press. "Columbine High School Evacuated After Officials Get Bomb Threat" — FOX News, March 1, 2007
"Columbine evacuated after bomb threat" — Melbourne Herald Sun, March 1, 2007

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