US: Washington DC schools evacuated over bomb threat; police say 'no explosives found'

After getting anonymous bomb threats, over half a dozen public high schools in Washington, D.C. were evacuated on Wednesday afternoon, however, police did not discover any explosives. "Each of the schools have been cleared with no hazardous material found," Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) tweeted around 80 minutes after the evacuation was announced, Sputnik reported. These bomb threats came after 14 Historic Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) had received bomb threats at the beginning of Black History Month in the US. 

According to the Metropolitan Police Department, Dunbar High School, Theodore Roosevelt High School, Ron Brown High School, KIPP DC College Preparatory, IDEA Public Charter School, Seed Public Charter School, as well as McKinley Tech High School received bomb threats over the phone. Further, US police did not provide any further information regarding the spate of bomb threats on Wednesday. Three threats were made only minutes apart at 12:30 pm on Wednesday, police reported, followed by other threats, Daily Mail reported.  

Bomb threats in Washington DC schools during the Black History Month

It is worth noting that Friendship Public Charter School also obtained a threat, although the school was not in session at the time. Enrique Gutierrez, a spokesperson for the District of Columbia Public Schools, said, “All students and staff were safely evacuated in accordance with DCPS protocols. DC Public Schools values the safety of all our students, staff, and visitors and will continue to offer support to our school communities while the MPD investigations are ongoing." Sputnik reported.  

In addition to this, the current wave of bomb threats came just one day after Vice President Kamala Harris' husband, Doug Emhoff, was evacuated from a Black History Month event following bomb threat during a visit to Dunbar High School. The MPD stated that they have been working thoroughly to investigate these threats with the cooperation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Associated Press reported. 

The threats were described by Lewis Ferebee, the chancellor of D.C. Public Schools, as "disturbing incidents that we take very seriously." Ferebee stated in a statement that the district will cooperate closely with MPD regarding any threat made against the schools, students, or employees. 

Meanwhile, the FBI had launched a hate crime and violent extremism investigation into the series of bomb threats made to the HBCUs throughout the United States. As per university officials and the FBI, bomb threats were made against Jackson State University in Mississippi, Alcorn State University, Kentucky State University, Howard University, the University of the District of Columbia, Morgan State University, Coppin State University, as well as Xavier University. 

(Image: AP)