Columbine High School Evacuated After Officials Get Bomb Threat

LITTLETON, Colo. – Columbine High School was evacuated Thursday after officials received at least one call about a bomb threat, authorities said.

Jefferson County Sheriff's spokeswoman Jacki Kelley said students were being taken to a nearby park while bomb squads and dogs searched the school. Eight years ago, Columbine was the site of the nation's deadliest school massacre when two students opened fire on their classmates.

School officials said Columbine would be closed for the rest of the day.

Kelley said she believed more than one threat was called in Thursday beginning at 9:30 a.m. She did not know whether the caller made reference to the April 20, 1999, attack by Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, who shot and killed 13 people before taking their own lives.

"Most of the threats that have been associated to that school made reference to past events that occurred there," Kelley said. "But a bomb threat to a school is as serious at any school as it is at Columbine."

Columbine has about 1,850 students, said Marlene Desmond, spokeswoman for Jefferson County Schools.

The threat was being handled the same as other threats elsewhere, Kelley said.