Today, there was yet another lockdown at McKinleyville High School due to a bomb threat. School officials said law enforcement was quick to respond and clear the perimeters of the campus. This counts as the sixth time that Mckinleyville High School has gone under lockdown due to threats of violence targeting the school.
“My granddaughter works there and it seems like every other day, you know, my daughter is calling me and saying she’s locked down again,” said Genna Carmony, a concerned grandmother. “I can’t get her out of work. They are locked down. Today she calls me when she’s out of school [that] there was a bomb scare.”
Carmony isn’t the only parent concerned. Redwood News spoke with another concerned parent who has kids at the McKinleyville High School and she told me she will be pulling them out until this is resolved.
“This morning we had our sixth incident of this pattern that we’ve been dealing with,” said Roger Macdonald, the superintendent of the Northern Humboldt Union High School District. “We had a phone call that vaguely alluded to a bomb threat on campus. Humboldt County Sheriff responded very quickly and worked with our staff to clear the campus.”
This pattern of threats began last Tuesday, November 28 when there was a fear of a possible armed man. Since then, there have been multiple threats and a decline in student attendance.
“As the incidents mount, you have students and families that are, you know, feeling, less safe at school,” Macdonald said. “We absolutely have had a decline in enrollment.”
Superintendent Macdonald confirmed there is a collaboration with the Federal Bureau-Investigation (FBI) for this investigation. A press conference will be held tomorrow to share what officials know.
“There’ll be representatives from the sheriff and I,” Macdonald said. “We’ll have a statement and then we’ll what we’re trying to do is all the questions that I’m getting is try to be prepared to answer those in our statement.”
The press conference starts at 2 p.m. tomorrow at the McKinleyville High School to listen to what officials know and how they plan to move forward in this investigation. Tomorrow’s press conference will also be live-streamed under the Northern Humboldt Union High School District social media accounts. The link has also been made available through the district’s website for those interested in joining.
