Esko Schools Evacuated Over Anonymous Call Of A Bomb Threat
UPDATE – ESKO, Minn. –The evacuation on Thursday afternoon at Esko Public Schools was due to a bomb threat that was made by an anonymous caller, according to the school administration.
The school district says that Carlton County 911 dispatchers received a call from an unknown person claiming that an explosive device was spotted inside one of the high school’s classrooms.
Carlton County alerted Esko Public Schools as law enforcement officers descended onto the building.
All students were accounted for and safely evacuated to a nearby church.
The school administration says that the responding law enforcement agencies performed a thorough search of the entire campus, covering all lockers, classrooms, and storage areas with help from Duluth Police’s Explosives Canine Unit.
The Carlton County Sheriff’s Office led the investigation, while the Duluth Police Department, Esko Fire and Rescue, Cloquet Police and Fire, Minnesota State Patrol, and other first responders assisted at the scene.
The exhaustive search did not turn up any explosive devices or dangerous items that could corroborate the threat.
The campus has now been given the all-clear, and students and staff can go back to pick up their belongings from 5-6:30 p.m., but may not carry anything into the building during that time.
All students are accounted for at St. Matthew’s Church. Parents are picking up their children as normal, but instead at the church.
Normal bus routes began at 3 p.m.
ESKO, Minn. – Officials with Esko Schools have evacuated all students and staff from Esko High School, Winterquist Elementary and Esko Educational Center after the district received “information.”
As of 1:45 p.m., district officials said all staff and students are safely located at St. Matthew’s Church.
“We ask that families please wait for further information as the situation is being assessed,” according to a post on the Esko Schools.
Parents are not being allowed to pick up their children at the church until notified by the district, per “dismissal procedures.”
We’ll bring you more details as the district releases them.
