Bomb threats lead to evacuations of 2 Glendale schools
Students at Verdugo Woodlands and Franklin elementary schools in Glendale were evacuated on Monday after the two campuses received bomb threats.
An unknown person called Verdugo Woodlands Elementary School at around 1:10 p.m. to say there was a bomb on campus before hanging up. Franklin Elementary School received a similar phone call at around 1:15 p.m.
Officials at both schools decided to evacuate students away from the campuses as police conducted a search at each, according to the Glendale Unified School District.
Authorities are investigating where the phone calls came from.
Sgt. Dan Suttles, a spokesman for the Glendale Police Department, said an initial sweep of the two schools did not find “any evidence of an actual explosive device.”
However, Verdugo Woodlands underwent a more thorough secondary search with a bomb-sniffing dog once the campus was completely vacated. Suttles said officers wanted to make sure the campus was cleared with complete certainty.
By 3:37 p.m. the police department announced on social media that both campuses were completely cleared.
Suttles said the bomb threats were unrelated to a nationwide hoax that occurred last week as those involved emails sent to businesses and organizations across the country for a ransom to be paid in cryptocurrency.
The two Glendale schools were not the only ones to receive bomb threats on Monday. Two schools in San Francisco and one in Fullerton also received calls in the 1 p.m. hour reporting a bomb on their campuses.
It’s unknown if the other calls are related to the ones received in Glendale.
Twitter: @Andy_Truc
UPDATES:
4:45 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details from Glendale police and the school district.
This article was originally published at 3:20 p.m.
