Boulder High School classes canceled, several schools across Colorado targeted in unfounded threats

All classes were canceled for Boulder High School after a shelter-in-place was ordered as part of the response to an unconfirmed report of a possible active shooter on campus about 8:30 a.m. Wednesday. No threat was found and the shelter-in-place was lifted before 11 a.m.

The CU Dispatch Center received a call at 8:33 a.m. Wednesday about an active shooter outside Boulder High School. 

"I have listened to this 911 call, it is very scary, in the background of the call you can actually hear shots being fired," said Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold. "The caller indicated that he was outside of the high school with a semi-automatic weapon."

Police tweeted at 9:40 a.m. that officers continued to clear the school and had not found any victims. They urged those at the school to continue to shelter in place. 

According to Boulder Police Department's tweets, the report of an active shooter was not confirmed. The shelter-in-place order covered the surrounding area of the high school from 17th Street to Canyon Boulevard, as well as areas south of the corner of Canyon Boulevard past Arapahoe Avenue. 

"They started barricading the doors and that kind of made people get a little bit anxious at the time," said one Boulder High School student.  

The FBI is involved in the investigation at Boulder High School and other schools across Colorado where similar incidents had been reported on Wednesday morning. 

The FBI Denver released this statement: 

FBI Denver is aware of numerous threats made today to a variety of organizations and institutions across Colorado. The FBI works closely with its law enforcement partners by providing resources and guidance in these investigations and can recommend cases for federal prosecution. While we have no information at this time to indicate a specific and credible threat, we continue to work with our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners to gather, share, and act upon threat information as it comes to our attention.

It is important to note that law enforcement will use all available resources to investigate a threat until we determine whether it is real or not. Investigating hoax threats drains law enforcement resources and diverts officers from responding to an actual crisis. More information about the consequences of posting hoax threats can be found on fbi.gov.

We urge the public to remain vigilant, and report any and all suspicious activity and/or individuals to law enforcement immediately. – Statement from FBI Denver

"This is the scariest type of call you can get especially as you look across the country and see how many of these incidents are happening at schools," said Herold.

All students at Boulder High School were evacuated and bussed to the reunification center at 10 a.m. Classes were canceled for the rest of the day on Wednesday. 

"I'm proud of the response with the impact teams and we got into the building and cleared it as soon as we could," said Herold.   

A similar situation unfolded at Brighton High School on Wednesday morning. In less than an hour after issuing a secure alert, Brighton police said "officers found no credible threat to students or the surrounding community. The Secure at Brighton High School has been lifted."

There were similar situations reported at schools in Alamosa, Aspen, Canon City, Durango, Englewood, Estes Park, Glenwood Springs and Carbondale on Wednesday morning. 

The Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management is monitoring those school lockdowns reported on Wednesday. 

The FBI is involved in the investigation into the incidents at the schools across Colorado.

"I don't want to call it a hoax until I have more information on the investigation," said Herold. "We still have K9s in the area and have lifted the shelter-in-place."