Bomb threat empties Flathead High School

Kalispell police have a suspect in what appears to be a false bomb threat that prompted an evacuation of Flathead High School Monday afternoon.

Kalispell police have a suspect in what appears to be a false bomb threat that prompted an evacuation of Flathead High School Monday afternoon.

"We have a lead that matched circumstances that, as we tracked it back, occurred before the threat," Kalispell Police Chief Frank Garner said.

Police are following that lead, the chief said, and hope to make an arrest in the coming days.

"We have a very good chance of tracking this one down," Garner said.

It started at 11:52 a.m. Monday, when a staff member in the principal's office took a phone call in which a person issued the bomb threat and gave a specific time frame.

"We received a threat … that was time sensitive," School District 5 Superintendent Darlene Schottle said as she waited for the searchers to finish their work.

"We cleared the school according to the time that was given."

Evacuated students were sent to Elrod School a block north of the high school, and waited in the fenced playground and the elementary school gym.

But by 4:30 p.m., a grid search of the high school conducted by police and school employees had been completed and turned up nothing out of the ordinary.

Staff and students were allowed back into the building at that time, but most already had left for the day.

Still, police and administrators agreed that "if we have any reason to believe it, we are best (served) to act on the side of student safety," Schottle said of the evacuation.

The last bomb threat on record at Flathead High was in late April 1999. That, too, turned out to be a false report.

Shortly after the phoned threat, an announcement went out over the public address system telling students to leave the building immediately and assemble at Elrod School a block to the north. There, they congregated on the fenced-in playground and doors were opened to the school gym for those who wanted to go inside.

Some of the high school's teachers and two administrators stayed with the students to supervise.

Students were asked to remain at Elrod until their regular release time for a Monday, unless a parent or guardian showed up to sign them out for the day.

After students and staff were evacuated, Schottle said a police SWAT team swept the school hallways, lockers and classrooms. Teachers followed behind, checking their individual classroom areas to see if anything was out of place.

Garner said the school building was cordoned off into six separate areas for a systematic search procedure.

"Once the building is completely clear," Schottle said about 3:30 p.m., "I'm confident it will be fine to get back in the building, and for the staff and students to get their belongings."

Before an hour had passed, she was proven right.

"We followed our standard operating procedure for that kind of threat," Garner said.

"We have a good lead on a suspect, and we believe we know why (the threat) was made."

The suspect likely would be charged with making a false report, he said. If convicted, that person could face criminal penalties of a $1,000 fine and several months in jail, be required to pay restitution for expenses involved in searching the school, and have sanctions imposed by the school administration.

Police are asking anyone with information on the caller's identity to contact the Kalispell Police Department at 758-7780 or CrimeStoppers at 752-8477.

Reporter Nancy Kimball may be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at nkimball@dailyinterlake.com