Bomb threats send officers to schools to aid evacuations

Several Honolulu schools were evacuated Thursday afternoon due to a series of bomb threats.

Police officers responded shortly after the 2 p.m. threats were made by telephone to about a dozen public and private schools, and searched but found no explosives. The all-clear was given at around 3 p.m., police said.

Many schools had already finished classes for the day, and most of the students had already left, so the majority of evacuees were teachers and faculty, a Department of Education spokeswoman said.

“Even false or prank calls require a police response, so all these officers who responded to these events were taken away from actual 911 emergency calls,” Honolulu Deputy Police Chief Marie McCauley said at a news conference Thursday at police headquarters.

When officers get these calls, they respond as quickly and as safely as they can to help evacuate the children, McCauley said.

“We’re asking for the public’s cooperation in using 911 responsibly,” she said.

McCauley said the perpetrators face arrest on suspicion of first-degree terroristic threatening, a Class C felony that is punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of $10,000.

Police are looking at the phone numbers where the calls originated, and ask the public with information to call police at 911.

A Department of Education official said the following public schools received threats: Farrington, Kaimuki, Kalani, Radford and Moanalua high schools, and Washington Middle School.

The following private schools also received threats, school officials confirmed: Assets School, Maryknoll School and Damien Memorial School.

Maryknoll, Kaimuki and Damien still had students on campus, officials said.

Nimitz Elementary School, which did not receive a threat, was evacuated due to its proximity to Assets School.

The Honolulu Police Department responded earlier this month to six bomb threats. The cases Thursday pushed the January total to 16, the same number as last year’s total for the entire year.

McCauley said police were still gathering reports Thursday afternoon, so she did not know the exact wording of the threats and did not know whether they were made by one person or several.