Bomb threat forces evacuation of school in Everett

EVERETT, Wash. — Students and staff at The Goddard School of Snohomish were forced to evacuate because of a bomb threat Wednesday morning.

According to the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office, someone phoned in the threat to the preschool and daycare around 11 a.m.

Administrators then called 911.

As deputies responded, around a hundred students and staff evacuated and hurried through a parking lot.

“I saw all the kids were coming out of this place here and going to Chase Bank with all the teachers around them. I see right away, after maybe a few minutes, the parents started coming to get their kids home,” said Khalid Siddiqui, a witness.

With everyone safe, deputies swept the school and found nothing suspicious.

Then, out of an abundance of caution, they called for the Washington State Patrol bomb tech K-9 team to perform a second sweep.

“Absolutely nothing was found – no suspicious packages, nothing suspicious with the school grounds, in any way,” said Courtney O’Keefe with the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office.

After parents picked up their kids, teachers returned to the school a couple of hours later.

As for the threat, even though nothing suspicious was found, investigators say they’re taking it seriously.

“If this was some sort of prank, there can be criminal charges behind that and we certainly are working to ID the suspect involved,” said O’Keefe.

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