At least 14 Colorado schools were interrupted by threats related to campus safety Thursday at a time when schools nationwide are on high alert for violence.
A bomb threat closed down an entire district in Virginia, and over the past week schools in Nebraska, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon and Wisconsin have been closed or locked down.
From Thornton to Colorado Springs on Thursday, extra law enforcement patrolled campuses and students were evacuated or learned behind locked doors days after three school shootings occurred across the country.
In Thornton, a bomb threat was called in to Horizon High School shortly after noon, prompting authorities to evacuate the campus while Thornton police searched the school.
Seven other schools in the Adams 12 District, including four elementary schools and three middle schools, were placed on alert after the threat, said Joe Ferdani, district spokesman.
Nothing was found, but parent-teacher conferences and athletic events were canceled Thursday night as a precaution, except for the Horizon High School soccer game.
Thornton police Officer Matt Barnes said it’s “highly unlikely” to have so many schools locked down or disrupted in one day.
“This is kind of unprecedented,” he said. “In light of recent events going on around the country, you want to err on the side of caution. You don’t want any of those events to happen in your community.”
Not only are threats taken seriously – they can be prosecuted.
A false bomb threat is a felony punishable by six months to three years in prison and a fine of $1,000 to $100,000.
In Colorado Springs, Sand Creek High School was placed on lockdown after a disgruntled parent made an alarming comment to police, said principal Mike Collins.
The school’s doors were locked and additional security was dispatched, but classes continued as usual.
“Especially in the present atmosphere,” Collins said, “I felt like with that kind of comment I should take those steps.”
The Manning School, an Applewood-area middle school, and Maple Grove Elementary School were locked down in Jefferson County after school officials received a strange phone call.
The caller didn’t make any threats but asked a lot of questions about the school, enough to make staff suspicious and call for extra security, said Marlene Desmond, spokeswoman for the district.
Students attended class but weren’t allowed outside.
The two schools, with a combined enrollment of more than 700 students, were dismissed at their regular times and letters were sent home with students to inform parents about the lockdown.
In Aurora, a Cherokee Trail High School student made threats to a teacher to shoot students at nearby Smoky Hill High School, said Tustin Amole, spokeswoman for the Cherry Creek school district.
The teacher told the student the comments weren’t funny or acceptable, Amole said. The student responded, “Who says I was joking?”
Amole said that the student made the comments in a “flip” manner but that they are being taken seriously.
Northglenn police sent officers to patrol Northglenn High School after they got information that students might be fighting with teens from another area, possibly from Thornton or Adams County.
And at Littleton High School, administrators increased security on campus after graffiti that threatened violence was found on a bathroom wall, said Littleton Public Schools spokeswoman Diane Leiker.
The students were also hearing separate rumors about violence that might occur.
District security and police swept the campus grounds to make sure the school will be safe for students, Leiker said.
“Because it’s happening now, people have a much more heightened sense of concern,” Leiker said. “We always follow up on the threats.”
Staff writer Kieran Nicholson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Staff writer Felisa Cardona can be reached at 303-954-1219 or fcardona@denverpost.com.
