Update: Davenport Police Department’s Captain Dale Sievert says the first call came in around 11:20 Friday morning to Central High School. Sievert says the caller threatened to drive a vehicle up to the school with explosives, blow it up, and shoot people as they were running out. About 20 minutes later, West High School received the same call.
Davenport Community School District’s spokesperson, Dawn Saul, says they called 911 right away and placed the two schools on lockdown. Parents were notified in an automated message reading, “We have put Central and West High School on external lockdown due to an anonymous external bomb threat for those buildings.”
Many parents were in fear, rushing to both high schools to pick up their students. Davenport Police Department says guardians were allowed to pick up their kids.
Sievert also says they surrounded West and Central High School with patrols even after the lockdown was over just as a precaution. They even had officers at North and Assusmption.
Today’s external bomb threat was not credible, but Sievert says, “by responding and having that presence there […] by us being there, if it was a credible threat, perhaps our presence deters that credible threat.” He says they take all calls seriously. Saul says the school district takes all calls seriously as well for the safety of the students and their employees. They have protocols in place that were taken today.
Update: Davenport Community School Dist. spokesperson Dawn Saul says the lockdown at Central and West high schools was lifted at 1:20 p.m. All parents were notified of the lockdown through the school alert system and all school principals in the district were notified as a precaution. We’ll have team coverage on the type of threat, and how other schools in the state experienced similar situations on KWQC-TV at 4, 5 and 6.
Original:
The Davenport Police tell us threats have been made against Davenport Central and West High Schools.
Davenport schools have sent messages to parents informing them that the schools are on lockdown and that parents should avoid the area until further notice.
The message, sent to us by a parent reads;
We have put Central and West High School on an external lockdown due to an anonymous external bomb threat for those buildings. Davenport Police are on site at both locations. At this point we ask that you do not come to these schools.
We have crews on scene.
Stay tuned to KWQC-TV6 and kwqc.com for updates as we receive them.
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Photos take at both schools at 1:15 p.m.
