Multiple school shooting threats debunked in Gorge, Washington & Oregon; Schools still follow lockdown procedures

Middle School students in White Salmon were released after a lockdown at around 2:55 p.m.

By Cole Goodwin and Tom Peterson 

Multiple police agencies responded to Columbia High School in White Salmon this afternoon, May 10 at 1:30 p.m. after dispatchers received a phone call from a would-be shooter who said they would be entering the school.

It never happened. 

And the same empty threat appears to have occurred in other locations in Eastern Washington, including Stevenson, Ellensburg, Republic and Spokane.  The Same threat also occurred at Jefferson High School in Oregon near Albany.  

In that case, police received a report of someone with a gun who allegedly came into the Jefferson High School.  Our caller, who did not identify themselves, reported they were hiding in the bathroom and then said the subject was shooting at them, according to the Marion County Sheriff’s office.

Deputies responded along with multiple law enforcement agencies from around the area and entered the school and began searching for the reported subject with a gun and the person making the report who claimed to have been shot.  Law enforcement was not able to locate anyone injured let alone shot and no evidence of an armed person or any shots which had been fired.    

The phoned threat sent to Columbia High School sent the school into lockdown procedures as the call had to be taken seriously until proven otherwise. 

Multiple agencies responded to the threat of a school shooting at Columbia High School on Wednesday, May 10, at around 1:30 p.m. The threat was found to be false.

Multiple police agencies could be seen responding to Columbia High School including the Klickitat County Sheriff, Bingen-White Salmon Police, and Washington State Police.

Parents were alerted to the situation sending a wave of panic as parents feared for their children’s safety. 

Authorities cleared the school and the lockdown was halted around 3 p.m. 

Columbia High School Principal Craig McGee said the Sheriff’s office notified the school to lockdown.

“There was no credible threat,” he said

“The district would like to thank all of our law enforcement officers for their prompt response,” said Dr. Jerry Lewis, Superintendent of White Salmon Valley School District.

Parents were lined up at the school waiting to retrieve their kids. 

At 2:55 p.m., middle school students were released. 

“We got an automated message saying there is an active shooter and then I get a text from my son saying I love you," one parent said. 

Another parent said “last week the governor passed that automatic gun ban; you gotta wonder if someone is ticked off about it.”

Students could also be seen consoling one another.  

"It's okay, it's okay" said one male student to a female student who was crying as they exited the school. 

“These days with the way the country is going you have to take these things seriously,” another parent said. “But I honestly wasn't too worried about it once I heard they'd called Stevenson too.”