Phone Threats Target 4 High Schools: SDUSD

The San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) said La Jolla, Lincoln and Scripps Ranch high schools were told "shelter-in-place" as officials scoured the campuses after threats were phoned in, individually, to each school

Four San Diego-area high schools were ordered to shelter-in-place Tuesday morning due to a series of back-to-back, unspecified threats made by phone, school district officials confirmed.

The San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) and Sweetwater Union High School District (SUHSD) said La Jolla, Lincoln, Scripps Ranch and San Ysidro high schools were told to "shelter-in-place as a precaution due to threats" as of 11:10 a.m. Officials posted the information on SDUSD's Twitter feed:

Staffers and school police searched the interiors and exteriors of the campuses.

Linda Zintz, spokesperson with SDUSD, said threats came in, individually and just minutes apart, via telephone to each campus beginning around 10:25 a.m., then at 10:27 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.

As a precaution, each campus was put in shelter-in-place mode while the threats were investigated.

Zintz said she did not know if the calls had been traced to one suspect or several suspects, as the investigation is ongoing.

By 11:22 a.m., several San Diego Police Department (SDPD) vehicles could be seen at the La Jolla High School campus located at 750 Nautilus St. By 11:34 a.m., aerial footage from NBC 7's news chopper showed a California Highway Patrol vehicle and SDPD vehicle in the parking lot outside Scripps Ranch High School located at 10410 Treena St.

Lincoln High School is located at 4777 Imperial Ave., while San Ysidro High School, which is part of SUHSD, is located at 5353 Airway Rd. Each school targeted in Tuesday's threats is responsible for educating between approximately 1,650 and 2,400 students.

SDUSD officials said all students and faculty were safe, and parents of students at each school had been notified.

By 11:42 a.m., SDUSD officials tweeted that Lincoln and Scripps Ranch high schools had been cleared, and that classes would resume as usual.

At 12:04 p.m., La Jolla High School was cleared and classes there also resumed as normal, SDUSD officials tweeted.

By 12:18 p.m., school district officials gave the "all clear" for all four high schools and said campus police were handling the investigation.

Manny Rubio, a spokesperson for SUHSD, said the threat at San Ysidro High School involved someone calling the school to say there was a bomb placed on campus. Rubio said officers swept the campus and found nothing. Normal operations resumed at that school, too.

Zintz said school police are in constant communication with law enforcement during these types of incidents, including the San Diego Police Department.

On Tuesday, as the shelter-in-place orders went into effect, Zintz said SDUSD’s police chief was “immediately in contact” with SDPD Chief Shelley Zimmerman.

No further details about the threats were immediately released. Check back for updates.

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