Hoax threats force evacuation of Colorado schools, synagogues

COLORADO, USA — Dozens of schools and synagogues across Colorado received bomb threats Tuesday morning, which prompted many of them to evacuate, the Kiowa County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.

The FBI Denver office said it was aware of “numerous hoax bomb threats” sent to various government buildings, schools and other facilities in Colorado but said they have no information that any of them were credible.

The Kiowa County Sheriff’s Office said it was first notified of an emailed threat toward Eads Schools at 9:20 a.m. Emergency personnel arrived and evacuated the schools. Upon investigation, the sheriff’s office said, it was determined that the same threat was made to more than 40 schools throughout the state. The schools were cleared by law enforcement, and the threat was deemed to be fictitious.

The Colorado Office of Emergency Management said in a social media post that they were monitoring “several school lockdowns” and were working with local law enforcement to coordinate information about the incidents. They reiterated that no “credible threats” had been identified.

The Estes Park Police Department and the Estes Park School District put out a joint statement saying that a threat was received by email that indicated the presence of explosive devices within the school campus.

Police secured the schools and said they did not believe there was any ongoing threat in the area.

Temple Emanuel, a synagogue in Denver, said their Early Learning Center and entire building were evacuated after “an explosives threat” that was received over email. The threat, according to Temple Emanuel, was received by synagogues all over the Denver and Boulder areas.

Har HaShem, in Boulder, said in a Facebook post that they also received a threat Tuesday morning. They called the police and the campus was cleared with the assistance of the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office K-9 unit.

An FBI spokeswoman said hoax threats are taken “very seriously” because they put innocent people at risk, and the FBI is working with law enforcement partners to gather information.

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