Sheriff’s Office Responds to School Threat

UPDATED: 8:33 PM April 9, 2018

On Monday, April 9, 2018 at about 11:15 a.m., the Siskiyou County Sheriff Department (SCSO) received a threat to local schools communicated to the school district by an email. The message claimed that an unidentified person had been bullied at school and was ‘coming to school with 3 bombs and a .22 hand gun (sic)…’ The sender claimed staff, students and law enforcement would be shot or suffer other injuries and bombs would be detonated. Initially, reports were directed to Scott Valley and Tulelake schools. SCSO initiated an immediate response in response to the possible threat.

Etna Police Department, Etna, California and Tulelake Police Department were contacted and requested to provide security at their city schools, which was done. The schools in the impacted areas were requested to “lockdown” and deputies were dispatched to provide security at those schools in the Scott Valley area.

A “CODE RED,” a dispatch-generated message was broadcast throughout the county to alert citizens via electronic, Internet, or telephonic means, that proactive security measures were underway to safeguard students, faculty, staff, and others at impacted schools and to emphasize the fact that threat was not validated by any existing information or evidence.

SCSO dispatched deputies to the schools outside the target area and made security checks to raise the safety profile countywide. Federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies were alerted. The California Counter Intelligence Center (CCIC) in Sacramento was alerted. The Federal Bureau of Investigation was also notified of the threat. @Etna High School, Etna Elementary, Quartz Valley Elementary, Fort Jones Elementary, Scott Valley Elementary, Tulelake schools, and Scott River High School were placed on “lockdown.”

An investigation revealed similar messages were sent to other counties and jurisdictions in California and possibly to other states. The investigation by investigators revealed the threat was a likely hoax, possibly perpetrated by a group of hackers outside the United States.

According to Sheriff Jon Lopey, “Although the threat communicated to the Department appears to be a hoax; all threats are taken seriously by our Department and other agencies in the county. The impacted school districts, especially in Scott Valley and Tulelake, our dispatch, field, management, administration, and Major Crimes Unit personnel, our partner law enforcement agencies, including police and the CHP, rapidly responded to a possible threat that we had no way of knowing was legitimate or not in the earlier moments and hours of this response effort.

We are relieved no threat materialized into acts of violence against our kids, dedicated school employees, and first responders. This Department has conducted hundreds of additional school security checks in recent weeks and we will continue to do so to raise the security posture of our schools. We will continue to work with your allied-agency counterparts and school officials to identify and mitigate threats to students, school, staff and the citizens we serve.

Any threat verbalized or communicated or suspicious activities that potentially threaten our schools should be taken seriously and reported to your local law enforcement agency or the SCSO’s 24-hour Dispatch Center at (530) 841-2900. An immediate threat should be reported by dialing 9-1-1.”

ORIGINAL PRESS RELEASE (1:00 PM 4/9/18)

URGENT - Numerous schools in the Scott Valley and Tulelake districts have received an email containing a bomb threat. The Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) has learned other schools statewide have also received a similar email.

Although there is NO imminent, credible threat, the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office takes all threats seriously and has dispatched deputies to each school in these areas as well as security checks of all other schools.

Tulelake and Scott Valley schools have been placed on lockdown per school policy. Each school will be following lockdown procedure and making effort to contact parents and guardians.

Again, we want to reiterate, there is NO imminent, credible threat at this time; however, we take every threat seriously and have dispatched law enforcement personnel to the schools.

We are currently investigating this matter, and more information will be provided as it develops.

Press release provided from the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office.