Anonymous threat that locked down Blaine schools under investigation

Blaine Police Department (BPD) is still investigating anonymous threats made yesterday, May 25, that were serious enough for school administrators to put the Blaine school district’s main campus in lockdown for the remainder of the school day. Police are still looking for a suspect and have yet to find any weapons.

A Blaine student received anonymous threats through text messages early on May 25. The student then received more threats at the end of the school day that said the person was in school with a weapon, BPD lieutenant Michael Munden wrote in a joint statement with school district superintendent Christopher Granger.

The messages, sent through a voice-to-internet service, were tracked to a city in Alabama but investigators are trying to connect it to a specific address, Munden told The Bellingham Herald. He said the messages were sent to a female student, with the first text at 12:15 p.m. and the second sent about an hour later. Munden could not immediately be reached for comment.

The first text threatened the female student directly and said they would shoot up the school, Munden said. BPD sent additional officers to the schools. The second text had more detail than the first, Munden told The Herald, and the person said he was on campus and was looking to kill the student.

School administrators announced the schools were in lockdown at 2:40 p.m. May 25 and notified law enforcement. U.S. Customs and Protection, U.S. Border Patrol and Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office responded, BPD public information officer Tami Bhachu said.

BPD announced at 5 p.m. May 25 that all Blaine schools were cleared and safe. There were no injuries, according to the statement. The school district started releasing students to their families at the stadium. School buses picked up students at 7:15 p.m., nearly five hours after regular dismissal.

BPD officials thanked students for their response to the stressful and frightening situation.

Blaine school district canceled school Thursday, May 26, and was determining whether there would be school Friday, May 27. “Be well and take good care,” a school district spokesperson wrote on Facebook.

During the lockdown, parents and family members were asked to not approach or call schools. Anyone waiting to pick up a student was asked to leave the campus area.

A 12-year-old Blaine student was arrested last December after being found responsible for a graffiti threat of a school shooting in a boys Blaine Middle School bathroom. A similar threat had been found in the girls Blaine High School bathroom a few days before the arrest last December. Those investigations found no evidence of an active threat, Granger previously said.

The lockdown comes a day after a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas where 19 students and two teachers were killed. Bhachu said the tragedy led the officers to respond with an abundance of caution.

“Despite the chaos and difficulty of this day, we are all incredibly grateful for the partnership between our school district and police department,” Munden and Granger wrote in the statement. “Most of all we are grateful for the safety of our community’s children.”

More information will be made public as soon as it’s available, Bhachu said.