Pipe bomb ‘spoof’ put Polk, Marion County schools on lockdown
PORTLAND, Ore. ( KOIN ) — Schools in Polk and Marion counties were put on lockdown on Oct. 6 after an unknown caller threatened to be 10 minutes away from a local school, armed with a pipe bomb and gun.
The threatening call was received by the Niagara Regional Police Service in Ontario, Canada at 10:34 a.m., and appeared to come from a Polk County resident. Canadian officials passed this information onto the Polk County Sheriff's Office.
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"Immediately after receiving the information, local schools in Falls City, Dallas, Monmouth and Independence were advised of the threat and placed into lockdown for the safety and security of students and staff," the Poke County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. "The Sheriff's Office immediately responded to local schools and began investigating the threat."
At the time, the call was thought to have come from a resident in Slayton, Ore., and Stayton Elementary School and Stayton High School were also placed on lockdown. However, after working with the FBI, law enforcement determined that there was no evidence of a legitimate threat.
"The actual owner of the phone number was contacted and determined not to be involved," the Polk County Sheriff's Office said. "The investigation indicated this was likely a 'spoofing' incident as it was learned the phone number had been used in other similar incidents across the United States."
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"Spoofing" is the act of disguising or changing caller ID information to hide a caller's identity.
"It is important to note, the safety and security of our children and school staff are paramount and all school threats are taken extremely seriously and investigated as a legitimate threat," the PCSO said. "The Sheriff's Office along with local law enforcement agencies provided a significant response to this incident, which remains under investigation."
