Updated
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
Fords Prairie Elementary School in Centralia went into a modified lockdown after receiving a threatening phone call this afternoon.
School district spokesperson Ed Petersen said police are at the building on Harrison and Reynolds avenues.
Petersen said the call came into the school at 1:35 p.m. and he didn’t know exactly what was said, but described it as “kind of a robo-voice threat.”
The plan is for students to be released as usual and after school programs will go on as planned, Petersen said.
Petersen described the lock down as more of lock out.
Centralia Police Department spokesperson detective Patty Finch said officers, including with help from the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office and the Washington State Patrol, covered each school in Centralia this afternoon until students’ dismissal time.
“We’re attempting, still attempting, to trace the phone call,” Finch said at about 3:15 p.m.
Police have the number the call came from and the cell phone company involved is assisting them, she said.
“They said it possibly was a computer-generated call,” she said.
It was described as a male voice who said he had a gun, was on his way to the school and was going to shoot people and then shoot himself, according to police.
Students at all the schools by now have been released, without incident, according to Finch.
An increased police presence can be expected in the area around the school for the next day or two.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
America made a mistake when they took God and spanking out of the public schools. Look at the history. School shootings started soon after. Kids have always been kids and ran in the halls and chewed gum in the class. But the really bad stuff started when control was completely taken away and the last real tool of the teacher was yanked from their hands.
Crazy you would be on suspension more than in school ha ha.
Makes me remember when I was in grade school how I hated our witch of a principal. Somebody squealed on me when they said they were going to tell the principal on me and I said, “Go ahead and tell the bitch”. Well they did and she called me in and gave me an extended “bad boy” speech and made me cry.
So I started building little gasoline rockets behind our shop to get back at her. Was planning to send one 6 miles to her house. Never got one off the ground but damn near burned myself up.
Soon forgot about her as when I got in middle school we had a real bad ass principal. Big Jim stood about 6’4″, weighed about 220, and had been bayonetted in WWII. All he had to do was give you the evil eye and you shaped up.
I guess that I would really be in trouble in this day and age.