A bomb threat called in at Carlson High School on Tuesday forced police to evacuate the Gibraltar, Michigan polling location in the middle of Election Day voting, sending residents out to the school parking lot to finish casting ballots while officers and a K9 unit swept the building. By Tuesday evening, authorities said they had identified a suspect and that criminal charges were expected.
Threat Called In During Voting Hours
The threat was phoned in Tuesday at Carlson High School, which serves as the polling location for Brownstown Township Precincts 8 and 11, according to ClickOnDetroit. Police evacuated the school building and moved voters to the parking lot, where they continued casting ballots while officers investigated. The outlet later reported that police had identified a suspect involved in the bomb threat, and that officials said criminal charges are expected against that person.
Officers from the Gibraltar Police Department, Brownstown Township Police Department and Wayne County Sheriff’s Office conducted a thorough sweep of the area, with police searching the school using a K9 as a precaution. Officials said the search was being conducted out of an abundance of caution, and that voters would be allowed back inside once police finished searching the building and cleared the scene. No further details about the threat itself or any possible suspicious devices were released.
Officials Urge Public to Stay Away
Officials said they take all threats seriously and emphasized that voter safety, election workers’ safety, and the integrity of the democratic process are of utmost importance. They urged the public to avoid the area and not go to the school while the sweep was underway. Local 4 was told that voting was not fully interrupted, with the station reporting additional information was expected as the investigation continued.
Around 6 p.m., a Michigan Secretary of State’s office spokesperson told WXYZ that the threat was determined to be unfounded and the building had been cleared. The disruption marks the second time in roughly two years that Carlson High School has been the target of a threat phoned in through an anonymous tip.
A Familiar Pattern at the Same School
In January 2024, Gibraltar School District officials said an anonymous tip reported a threat against Carlson High School while students were on winter break, and a suspect was identified in that case too, according to The News Herald. Gibraltar Police later deemed that earlier threat non-credible, and then-Police Chief Rick Tanguay said the suspect was a minor whose case was referred to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office Juvenile Division, per the same outlet's reporting.
Election-season threats against polling places are not unique to Gibraltar. In a November 2024 statement, the FBI said it was aware of bomb threats called into polling locations in several states, noting that many appeared to originate from Russian email domains and that none had been determined credible at that point, according to the agency's press release.
