Police: East High School threat unfounded

Police have determined that the threat at East High School on Monday was unfounded. Students at East High School were evacuated on Monday afternoon and there was a large police presence at the school for a couple of hours during the investigation. 

The Denver Police Department tweeted that officers responded to a report of a threat at the school which has more than 2,500 students as of the end of the school year in May.

The school was placed in lockdown about 2 p.m., shortly before the students were evacuated from the building. 

Investigators initially confirmed that they were trying to determine whether the threat was unfounded. 

Students were asked to leave everything behind and leave the school with their hands on their heads. 

Parents and caregivers are urged to not come to the school to pick up their students. Reunification is at the baseball field and school administrators will work on a controlled release of their students from the gym.

The school informed parents that the campus was deemed safe and that school would be dismissed for the day at 3:24 p.m. Any students who drove or walked to school are free to leave. 

"Police said that someone called them, claiming to be a teacher, and saying that there was someone inside the school with a gun," Superintendent Alex Marrero said in an email to parents. "As they always do, law enforcement responded to the East High School Campus prepared as if this was a real threat. The threat today was not real, but I was at East High School today after the reports of the threat. And, I know that the trauma for the students, educators and families is real."

Students can collect the belongings that they left behind at school on Tuesday. 

Denver police confirmed that one person was arrested during the investigation. That person's arrest was not connected to the threat.

"In my short tenure with Denver Public Schools, incidents of gun violence and/or related to gun violence at or near our schools have happened too frequently. This concerns me and other educators throughout the school district. It also concerns the leadership of the Denver Police Department," Marrero continued. "As many of you already know, I am a Denver Public Schools father. So, this work is as close to my heart as it is to all other DPS parents. The conversations between law enforcement and the school district are ongoing. These talks will guide our actions. Our efforts to stop shootings and gun violence in and around our schools will not cease. It is going to take all of us working together to stop the violence in our schools. Our children are counting on us."

At Adams City High School in Commerce City, one student was arrested and the lockdown lifted on Monday afternoon after reports of a threat. 

Also on Monday, there were threats with similar calls about the same time at Alamosa High School, Montrose High School, Delta High School and Cedaredge High School. A school threat in Colorado Springs was determined to be a swatting incident.