Stephen Gruber-Miller, and Holly Hines

Press Citizen

Police are looking into a possible link between a reported bomb threat at West High Tuesday and similar calls at schools in other parts of the U.S., Iowa City police confirmed Tuesday.

Iowa City Police Lieutenant Bill Campbell said the call about the bomb threat at West came from a robotic-sounding voice and seemed to come from a computer-generated phone number.

“Certainly there were a lot of them that were received around the country about that time," Campbell said. "Obviously we'll look to see if they're consistent with the other ones that were received."

More than two dozen other schools in New Jersey, Massachusetts and Delaware also received reports of bomb threats Tuesday, and at least 26 schools in New Jersey received threats made in a robotic voice that appeared to come from computer-generated phone numbers, Reuters reported.

Campbell said police in Iowa City will reach out to other law enforcement officials investigating the incidents.

He confirmed a bomb squad that searched the West campus following the reported threat found nothing suspicious Tuesday.

Officials evacuated students to the University of Iowa's Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex after police informed them of the threat at 8:45 a.m.

School officials decided to cancel classes for the day after police informed them that it would take hours to clear the building, Principal Gregg Shoultz said.

Students with cars were bused back to West to pick up their vehicles and others were being taken home early by bus, he said. Shoultz said at about 1:40 p.m. that the school had reopened the gym on the south end of the building so students could pick up their backpacks.

Shoultz said in the coming days, he and other school officials will review steps they took to determine whether they handled the situation and assessed the risk appropriately.

He said he is particularly interested in reviewing steps the school takes when an incident occurs during extremely cold weather, such as procedures to ensure students have their coats.

"If there's anything I'd like to review, it's how we can make sure the kids are prepared in case they need to stand outside for a little while," he said.

He said police acted quickly Tuesday to secure the gym so students could wait there rather than outside.

Shoultz said after-school activities at the school's facilities most likely will take place as scheduled Tuesday afternoon and evening.

“We are anticipating them being open for business for after-school activities," he said.

Shoultz said earlier Tuesday that police investigators searched West with four bomb specialists and two dogs and Sgt. Scott Gaarde said that police were assisted by the Iowa City Fire Department and the University of Iowa Police Department.

West High was being used as a polling station for Tuesday's Johnson County Supervisor special election, but had to be moved due to the evacuation, according to a news release from the Johnson County Auditor's Office.

A subsequent news release from the Auditor's Office said the the polling place would not move back to West and would remain at the University of Iowa's Athletic Hall of Fame, 2425 Prairie Meadow Drive.

"We were told that it's going to be quite a while before the school is opened so we had to go into our emergency situation and switch where we're voting today and go from there," Auditor Travis Weipert said.

Weipert said no one had voted at West prior to the bomb threat being called in Tuesday morning.

Here's the message from the school district:

Good Morning,

This is to inform you that West High School has received a bomb threat this morning. Please know that all students and staff are safe. As a safety precaution, all students and staff are being evacuated by bus to an off-site location. We will keep you updated as we receive additional information. Please do not go to the building as students and staff are being transported off-site. Thank you for your cooperation. Safety of students and staff are our top priority.

Thank you,

Stephen Murley

Superintendent of Schools

Iowa City Community School District

Reach Stephen Gruber-Miller at 319-887-5407 or sgrubermil@press-citizen.com. Follow him at @sgrubermiller.