Police responded to three Durango elementary schools Monday afternoon after receiving bomb threats from an unidentified caller.
Durango Police Cmdr. Rita Warfield said the calls went out at 2:25 p.m. to the three schools back-to-back at Needham, Park and Riverview elementary schools.
The calls were made by one unidentified caller to all three schools from the same number. The caller said there were multiple explosive devices throughout each of the schools.
Warfield said Durango School District 9-R immediately began evacuating students in the school and police were dispatched.
Calls to 9-R spokeswoman Julie Popp were not returned Monday. The school district posted a non-emergency message on its website addressed to Kids’ Camp families:
“These after-school programs were re-located to other sites in the community due to Police direction after an unidentified threat came in,” the announcement said. “... Police are still investigating the situation, but all schools have been cleared of any threats.”
The district sent a broader alert via email and a telephone recording at 6:15 p.m.
Durango School District 9-R continues to work closely with the Durango Police Department to have heightened patrol around these schools this week, and while the Police Department finalizes its investigation into the matter,” the message said. “All schools have been swept and are cleared to safely resume classes as normal tomorrow (Tuesday).”
Warfield said Monday was an early release day so most of the students were gone. Students in after-school programs were evacuated.
Police searched all three schools and found no threats, Warfield said. Now, authorities are working on tracking the phone number from where the calls were made.
jromeo@durangoherald.com
An earlier version of this story erred in saying Durango School District 9-R had not posted anything to its website about the bomb threats as of 4 p.m. Monday.
