Students kept inside at Columbine school following threat

Authorities say there is no threat to Columbine High School but students will be kept inside for the rest of the school day after someone called in a bomb threat against the school.

A spokesman for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s office, Mike Taplin, said that a person called Thursday morning, claiming to have placed explosive devices in the school and to be hiding outside with a gun. Taplin says nothing to validate the threat was found at the school, where 12 students and a teacher were killed by two students in 1999.

The sheriff’s office says it is working to locate the caller.

The threat drew a large police response but agencies began leaving shortly after midday.

Students at 23 other schools nearby were also temporarily placed on lockout, meaning their doors were locked but classes continued normally, as the threat was investigated.

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11:55 a.m.

Students at Columbine High School and nearby suburban Denver schools are being kept inside because of a threat against Columbine that has drawn a large police response.

A spokesman for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department, Mike Taplin, said that a person called Thursday morning, claiming to have placed explosive devices in the school and to be hiding outside with a gun.

Taplin says nothing to validate the threat was found at the school, where 12 students and a teacher were killed by two students in 1999.

He says the school receives many threats annually and that the police response was appropriate.

The school district says all doors are locked at the schools but that classes are continuing normally.