Lockdown At Highland, Indiana Schools Lifted
UPDATED: 1/21/2015 3:25 p.m.
By John Dodge
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A phone threat from a number in Dallas forced authorities to place the schools in Highland, Ind., on lock down.
The move was precautionary after a caller to the Highland Police Department said somebody would shoot people in the Highland High School cafeteria, unless $2,000 was placed in an unspecified garbage can, officials said.
The number was tracked to a Dallas location, and Dallas police were going to the address associated with the number to investigate.
After arriving at the home, Dallas police determined that the phone number used had been hijacked and that nobody at the location was involved in the threat.
Many students were picked up at school by their parents after the closing bell and the lock down has since been lifted.
The Bureau Of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms was also trying to track the phone because the same number was used for another threat in 2012 in Texas.
According to the Northwest Indiana Times, Cmdr. George Georgeff of the Highland Police Department and School Town of Highland Superintendent Brian Smith dispelled rumors on social media of someone inside the high school with a gun.
The students are being kept inside classes, and police have increased security.