GOODYEAR, AZ — Police responded to four Arizona high schools on Thursday morning to investigate various reports of threats or violence, prompting those schools to either go into a temporary lockdown or be evacuated altogether.
No confirmed threats or suspicious devices have been found or confirmed, and no injuries have been reported, according to those police agencies.
Red Mountain High School in Mesa received a report of a suspicious device on campus Thursday morning before school began. No device was found, police said. Students were not allowed onto campus while police investigated. Once the all-clear was given, school started normally.
Also in Mesa, Westwood High School was placed on a modified lockdown after a social media threat included threats of violence on campus.
Estrella High School in Goodyear was briefly placed on lockdown Thursday morning after an unauthorized person was reported to be on campus, according to the Goodyear Police Department. One person was taken into custody. Police said that person was not a student.
And Canyon View High School in Waddell, a city about 17 miles west of Glendale and Peoria, was evacuated Thursday afternoon due to a reported bomb threat. The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office said deputies were at the school, but no device has been found so far.
All of these threats come a day after Mesa High School was evacuated due to a bomb threat. Thousands of students were taken by bus to another high school nearby while police searched the campus Wednesday.
Police cleared the campus hours later and said they were following up on leads. ABC15 has learned that police are investigating the possibility that two juveniles may have played a role in Wednesday's reported threat.
The FBI has issued a national warning that posting or putting out hoax threats is a serious crime and teens will be held accountable.
"Issuing a threat—even over social media, via text message, or through e-mail—is a federal crime (threatening interstate communications). Those who post or send these threats can receive up to five years in federal prison, or they can face state or local charges."
