The Oakville School District was closed on Thursday after staff received what turned out to be a false bomb threat via email overnight.
Upon investigation, law enforcement determined the threats “were directed to a school district with a similar name up in Canada” and “were not intended for the Oakville School District,” according to a news release from the Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office.
School administration contacted law enforcement about the threatening email early Thursday morning and, out of an abundance of caution, decided at about 7 a.m. to close school for the day, according to the district.
Staff were immediately evacuated from the school and students who were on buses were returned to their homes as law enforcement responded, according to the school district.
The Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Office and Chehalis Tribal Police responded to the scene alongside the Washington State Patrol Bomb Squad, which was called in to clear the building.
The scene was cleared just before 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, though the Oakville School District remained closed for the rest of the day.
Between Sept. 13 and Oct. 21, 182 schools in 28 states received false threats, according to data collected by NPR. CNN reports that the FBI is working with state and local law enforcement on investigations into those incidents.
Most recently, on Nov. 22, a male subject claiming to be a teacher at Rochester High School called 911 to falsely report seven people had been shot and advised the suspect had used a long rifle and was still somewhere in the school, according to previous Chronicle reporting. The school was subsequently locked down while law enforcement did a complete sweep of the high school, ultimately finding nothing to indicate a threat.
