Police investigating possible explosives at Colorado Springs high school

Colorado Springs police say possible explosives were placed at Sand Creek High School on Tuesday morning, but no bombs were found and the school was given an all-clear status shortly before 9 a.m.

The Falcon District 49 school school is located at 7005 N. Carefree Circle Drive in east Colorado Springs.

Here is a statement Tuesday morning from District 49 on its website:

District 49 safety personnel received a Safe 2 Tell report Aug. 18 about a potential bomb threat at Sand Creek High School. The report led to the school entering a shelter-in-place status for nearly 100 minutes.

The anonymous Safe 2 Tell report arrived at 7:18 a.m., and the school was immediately put in a shelter-in-place status. District and school leadership, in coordination with the Colorado Springs Police Department, jointly began assessing the situation.

CSPD explosive detection K-9 teams swept the school building and grounds, and found no materials of concern. They determined the school is safe to occupy. The school’s leadership started releasing students back to class at 8:57 a.m.

Parents and community members were not requested to respond to the school. After finishing a detailed, coordinated assessment, the district’s safety personnel, after coordinating with local law enforcement, did not advise canceling the school day.Student and faculty safety is the highest priority in District 49, where every report of a possible threat is taken seriously. The district’s safety personnel coordinates with local law enforcement to investigate reports of a possible threat to classrooms.Sand Creek High School continued with its regularly scheduled activities.

Sand Creek students who arrived after the threat were told to stay off the school property and to locate at the Kum & Go convenience store parking lot. 

Commuters were asked to avoid the area of North Carefree Circle from Peterson Road to Marksheffel Road because of the police activity.

A parent, Tyra Hutton, said she was talking to her son, a 10th grader, during the search for explosives. "Everybody is scared," she said. "No one knows what's going on."

Minutes later, when Hutton learned of the all-clear status, she ran inside the school to get her son. 

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