PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Irvington School in Northeast Portland was evacuated Monday following a phone threat, but investigators said no threat actually existed. Similar threats were made to schools in Southwest Washington, in other parts of the US and in the United Kingdom.
Portland Fire & Rescue crews went to Irvington School at noon and evacuated the students and staff. The threat was quickly determined to be a hoax.
Along with Irvington, Kessler Elementary in Longview and Long Beach Elementary also had to evacuate Monday due to similar hoaxes.
A spokeswoman for the Colorado Division of Emergency Management, Micki Trost, says the threats made Monday appear to be related to the ones made at schools across the country.
In Colorado, an elementary school in the Denver suburb of Parker was evacuated after getting what Douglas County School District spokeswoman Paula Hans described as an automated phone message.
In New Hampshire, police say Portsmouth High School, Fuller Elementary School in Keene, Berlin Middle School in Berlin, and Amherst Street Elementary School in Nashua received threats Monday.
Schools in Utah, Iowa and Montana are also among those evacuated Monday. 27 schools in the UK also received hoax threats.
Portland police believe at least the threat to Irvington was similar to the automated call made to other schools, and KOIN 6 News has confirmed that the Kessler call was an automated message. According to the Longview School District’s spokewoman, the message said “the school is going to explode” and there was not a lot of time.
The investigation is ongoing and anyone with information is asked to contact Portland police — CrimeTips@portlandoregon.gov
The Associated Press contributed to this report
Filed under: Crime, International, Multnomah County, National, Oregon, Portland, Washington
