Threatening phone calls prompt school districtwide lockdown in Iowa City

IOWA CITY - All schools in the Iowa City Community School District were on a soft lockdown Tuesday afternoon, after two schools received 'calls of a threatening nature,” Superintendent Stephen Murley said in a statement.

The calls were made to Coralville Central Elementary and Tate Alternative High School, and Iowa City and Coralville police were on-site at both campuses.

The district planned to keep each of its schools on a soft lockdown through Tuesday as a precaution.

In a soft lockdown, all exterior school doors are kept locked. Students are kept inside but are able to move freely through the building, Iowa City Community School District spokeswoman Kristin Pedersen said. Outdoor activities, like recess, are moved inside.

In a message sent to parents, Murley said threatening calls had been made to schools across the U.S. Tuesday.

'The phone number where the calls originated has been traced to threats all over the country,” he said.

The calls threatened a school shooting, said Sgt. Derek Frank of the Iowa City Police Department.

The phone calls also shut down polling places located in school district sites, said John Deeth of the Johnson County Auditor's Office.

Those sites, which are open for Tuesday's Johnson County supervisor special election, were reopened by 1:45 p.m.

l Comments: (319) 398-8330; molly.duffy@thegazette.com

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