Multiple schools across Dearborn received automated robocall bomb threats Monday through voicemail messages, but only Salina Elementary was evacuated; no other students were moved. Police and federal authorities raced to assess the danger. By the end of the day, investigators said there was no risk or credible concern to anyone on campus.
After schools discovered the threatening voicemails, police were notified, and Dearborn police investigated the calls in coordination with federal authorities, according to WXYZ Channel 7. The district also said other community organizations beyond the schools received similar threatening calls, suggesting the robocalls were not limited to one campus or one target.
Mike Esseily said the district was working with the FBI to identify and track down the source of the calls, the station reported. That inter-agency effort mirrors how officials in other Michigan districts have handled a string of eerily similar voicemail threats in recent months, though the evidence does not establish any direct link between the Dearborn calls and those other incidents.
A Pattern of Robocall Threats Across Michigan
Dearborn's scare follows a string of comparable episodes elsewhere in the state. In October, Ann Arbor police investigated bomb threats reported at two schools, evacuating remaining students and staff at Slauson Middle School as a precaution; officers searched the building and, per ClickOnDetroit, found nothing suspicious. Police in that case assessed both threats as not credible, describing one as a “what if” scenario, though the investigation remained active.
Back in January, Allendale High School notified Ottawa County Sheriff's Office deputies before 7 a.m. of a threat received via voice message, and the district canceled school as a precaution, according to WWMT. That same report noted multiple schools in Gogebic, Gratiot, Lake, Saginaw, and St. Clair counties also closed that Monday after receiving threatening voicemails.
Closer to home, the Henry Ford Museum campus in Dearborn was evacuated this past Saturday night after a bomb threat was reported through the museum's switchboard at about 8:30 p.m., the Detroit Free Press reported. The museum later said its venues had resumed normal operations. Separately, a bomb threat at Carlson High School in Gibraltar earlier this month prompted a precautionary K9 search, and officials said criminal charges were expected against an identified suspect, per ClickOnDetroit.
Why Robocall Threats Are Getting Easier to Pull Off
The tactic of flooding schools with automated voicemail threats isn't unique to Michigan. In Georgia, similar automated robocall threats prompted school evacuations and districtwide closures, and law enforcement searches there turned up no explosives or safety hazards at any affected campus, according to WSB-TV. A cybersecurity expert told that station that artificial intelligence could make these kinds of automated threats faster and easier to carry out, lowering the technical bar for would-be callers. “Of course, it's going to make it faster. It's going to make it easier. It's going to lower the technical and organizational bar to entry for these types of things,” the expert, identified as Woods, said.
Reporting Resources
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For now, the source and motive behind Monday's calls remain under investigation, with Dearborn police and federal authorities continuing to work the case alongside the district. Officials have been clear on one point, though: despite the disruption to the school day, no credible danger was found at any of the affected buildings.
