Unfounded Hanford High bomb threat debunked by Richland police
RICHLAND, Wash. — A brief lockdown was initiated at Hanford High on Friday morning as police and school officials investigated an unsubstantiated bomb threat toward the school.
Despite the severity of the threat, Richland police investigators and officials from the Richland School District were able to confirm that there was no basis for the menace.
Therefore, the lockdown at Hanford High School was lifted just before 9:30 a.m. on Friday, March 11—allowing classes and school procedures to resume as scheduled.
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According to an alert on the Richland School District website, the threat was based on a phone call to the Richland Police Department shortly before 9:00 a.m. on Friday morning.
The Police Department regularly stations a School Resource Officer on-site to help keep the school community safe; particularly in times of peril or threat like this. They coordinated with Hanford High officials to initiate the school’s bomb threat response plan.
This threat is being actively investigated and no one has been named as part of this analysis. It remains ongoing so that RPD officials can get to the bottom of the threat and its origin.
READ: Southeastern Washington schools & police hold firm against violent TikTok threats
Back in October 2021, KAPP KVEW’s Ellie Nakamoto-White spoke with Benton County Prosecutor Andy Miller to learn about how his office is expected to handle such threats against schools.
“Depending on what was actually said, they can be charged with a felony. Depending on whether they’re a juvenile or an adult, they could end up going to prison for the threat or they can have different alternative programming,” Miller said. “Or it’s going to be something that’s going to be handled outside the criminal justice system.”
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