The entire Sioux City Community School District was placed on lockdown this morning after a threatening call was received around 8:20 a-m at the administration building.
Sergeant Brad Bollinger of the Sioux City Police says the call claimed that explosive devices had been placed at each school in the district, and that the schools would be attacked with rifles within a half hour. He says it was a robotic voice that said a bomb would go off at all schools.
“These calls have been going around the country recently, and numerous school districts have received them in the past. In fact, this is the second time that the Sioux City School District has received them,” Bollinger says. Officers were dispatched to the buildings and the call proved to be a hoax.
Bishop Heelan High School Principal Chris Bork says the city parochial schools did not receive the call, but police notified them of the threat and they also briefly went on lockdown. He says they went outside and made sure the students were safely moving across campus. Bork says he talked with a police officer about the best way to handle things, and during that meeting the public schools lifted their lockdown. The lockdown was canceled at 9:15 a.m..
Sergeant Bollinger says the FBI has been notified of the threat and the investigation is continuing.
(Reporting by Woody Gottburg, KSCJ, Sioux City)