Six private schools across Oahu found themselves under police guard Friday afternoon after a series of threatening phone calls hit campuses in Honolulu, Kailua, Aiea, Kaneohe and Waipahu within roughly 51 minutes. The calls began at Punahou School at 12:53 p.m. and Le Jardin Academy at 1:15 p.m., followed by four more threat calls between 1:33 p.m. and 1:44 p.m. at other campuses scattered across the island.
Police Scramble to Six Campuses at Once
According to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, the Honolulu Police Department confirmed officers were stationed at each of the six schools as a safety precaution while investigators worked to assess the credibility of the threats and determine whether the calls were connected. In its own release, the department said it was investigating phone threats made to six private schools on Oahu, though it did not publicly identify which campuses were targeted. Dispatch logs reviewed by Stolen Stuff Hawaii
showed the calls were reported at Punahou and Le Jardin Academy and at locations in downtown Honolulu, Aiea, Kaneohe and Waipahu, all within less than an hour.
Le Jardin Academy was among the campuses named in the threats. Punahou School later lifted its shelter-in-place order, notifying parents at 1:55 p.m. that the investigation had concluded there was no credible threat to the school, according to posts shared by Stolen Stuff Hawaii
. The timing meant families got word of the all-clear within roughly an hour of the first call coming in.
Largest Private Campus in the State Among Targets
Punahou School is Hawaii's largest private school campus, enrolling approximately 3,783 students during the 2021–2022 academic year, according to figures published by Hawaii.gov. Private institutions educate roughly 16% of Hawaii's school-age population across 97 member schools belonging to the Hawaii Association of Independent Schools, a share that Honolulu Civil Beat notes ranks among the highest in the country, underscoring how many families were touched by a single afternoon of calls.
What Charges Could Follow
Hawaii law already treats threats against school personnel seriously. Under Hawaii Revised Statutes § 707-716, making a terroristic threat against an educational worker is classified as First-Degree Terroristic Threatening, a Class C felony, according to Justia Law. State lawmakers introduced House Bill 1665 during the 2026 legislative session that would go further, reclassifying terroristic threatening against public infrastructure — explicitly including schools — as a Class B felony, per legislative text tracked by LegiScan.
Investigators have not said whether state or federal charges will ultimately be pursued once — or if — a suspect is identified.
Thursday's incident also follows a string of recent school security scares on Oahu, including an armed burglary suspect who triggered lockdowns at four Kailua schools before his arrest. For now, HPD says it is still working to determine whether the six calls on Friday were connected, who placed them, and whether automated or AI-assisted calling tools played any role — questions the department has not yet answered publicly.
