Four Iowa schools evacuated due to bomb threats

Bomb threats caused evacuations at two Des Moines metro schools on Monday, when many schools nationwide also reported bomb threats.

Valley High School in West Des Moines and Altoona Elementary School were evacuated after receiving phone calls with bomb threats, police said.

In eastern Iowa, Excelsior Middle School in Marion and Tate High School in Iowa City both also evacuated due to bomb threats on Monday, officials said.

RELATED: Wave of bomb threats hits schools nationwide

In Altoona, an automated phone call came to the elementary school at 11:54 a.m., saying bombs were inside the school, said Mattia Hansen, a spokeswoman for the Southeast Polk School District.

All students were relocated to Altoona Methodist Church until their parents could pick them up or until their regular school bus route could take them home, school officials said.

Valley High School received a phone call with a bomb threat shortly before 1:20 p.m., said West Des Moines Police spokesman Sgt. Jason Bryan, who declined to provide specific details about the call.

Valley students who drive to school were allowed to drive home, and students who take the school bus were transported to a safe location until buses could take them home on their regular routes, said Elaine Watkins-Miller, West Des Moines school district spokeswoman.

Watkins-Miller said part of West Des Moines' decision to evacuate Valley High School was because school officials knew about the Altoona threat.

It is unclear whether any of the threats are connected, but Bryan said that is being investigated by police.

Other schools across the U.S. on Monday reportedly received bomb threats.

"This might be a nationwide situation, we don't know yet," Bryan said.

Police have not reported finding any evidence to substantiate the threats in Iowa.

Other states that have seen bomb threats include Delaware, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, New York, Vermont, Minnesota, Montana and others, according to media reports.

If the local threats are determined to be connected to other threats nationwide, it will become a federal investigation, Bryan said. As of Monday evening, he said he was not aware of any federal agency investigating the threats in the Des Moines area.

The Des Moines Police Department's bomb squad searched the school building in Altoona, and at about 3:15 p.m., Altoona police confirmed that nothing suspicious was found in or around the school.

West Des Moines police worked with school administration to search Valley High School, Bryan said.

In Marion, the Linn-Mar Community School District received a call at 12:03 p.m. that was routed to Excelsior Middle School, Marion Police Lt. Lance Miller said. The call was a "robo-call," or automated phone call, with a bomb threat, he said.

The school was safely evacuated and police will investigate the threat, Miller said.

In Iowa City, a phone call of a bomb threat came to Tate High School Monday morning, Kristin Pedersen, the district's coordinator of community affairs, said via email.

Iowa City police were notified, and students were sent home as the department assessed the threat, Pedersen said. The police department could not provide specific details Monday night.

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