A bomb threat last Tuesday afternoon, March 31, led to the evacuation of students at Cheney’s Betz Elementary School.
Cheney Police Chief John Hensley said at 1:04 p.m. a woman contacted 911, telling the operator “I have a bomb in my car and a detonator and I am driving around Betz school right now and I will set the bomb off.”
Hensley said Cheney Police contacted school district staff at Betz, and after arrival locked down the school. The students were removed from the school and taken to the Cheney High School gym next door, something Hensley said might not have been possible if the threat had occurred at another school.
Hensley said they also contacted Eastern Washington University police, who subsequently advised university students who might be working at Betz or the high school to stay away. Cheney and Eastern police officers then conducted a room-by-room search of Betz, but found nothing suspicious.
Students were released to their parents or boarded buses according to their normal schedule.
The Cheney incident was one of two last Tuesday in the area. At approximately the same time, staff at Jefferson Elementary School on Spokane’s South Hill contacted the Spokane Police Department after receiving a phone call threatening a “terrorist attack” at the school. According to a department news release, officers and K-9 units were brought in to search the building, with students either transported home or released to parents or guardians.
A third incident took place the following day, April 1, after a bomb threat was emailed to officials at University High School in Spokane Valley. Students were evacuated, and after an extensive search, again nothing was found.
Hensley said Cheney investigators have no information to go on other than the woman’s recorded voice. He said there is suspicion that the two March 31 incidents at Betz and Jefferson are related.
“I think someone was up to some nefarious activities,” Hensley said.
John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.
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