A threatening phone call sent Northville High School into lockdown on Tuesday, with students held inside the building while officers and K-9 units reviewed the building. Police said they did not yet consider the threat credible, even as they worked to confirm what prompted the call in the first place.
Northville Public Schools told parents in an email that “at this time, there is no credible threat based on the information provided,” according to ClickOnDetroit. The district said it received the threatening call roughly 15 minutes before sending that notice to families, a tight turnaround that underscores how quickly the situation unfolded around noon Tuesday. Northville Township Police separately confirmed that officers were on scene investigating the threat, according to a statement reported by MLive.com.
Officers with Northville Township Police described the situation as what is likely a “non-credible threat” while they continued to investigate, per the station's report from WXYZ. Even so, students were told to remain inside until the building was fully cleared, and law enforcement brought in K-9 units to review the building before any release was authorized, the same outlet reported. Police were investigating a threat at the school.
Parents Rerouted To Nearby Church, Road Closed
Northville Public Schools asked parents not to come to the building itself and instead directed them to Ward Church to pick up their children once students were cleared to leave, the district said. Northville Township Police also closed Six Mile Road between Beck and Sheldon to traffic as the investigation unfolded, the department said in comments carried by the same local account.
MLive Plans Further Updates
MLive said it planned to provide updates as more details became available.
School Has Faced A Threat Before
Tuesday's lockdown is not the first time Northville High School has been placed under lockdown over a reported threat. On Dec. 18, 2014, the school was locked down after a tip was submitted through Michigan's confidential OK2Say tip line, according to a report from ClickOnDetroit. That tip suggested a student might have a weapon and planned to use it during the school day, though the information ultimately proved unfounded. Accounts of how long that 2014 lockdown lasted differ: ClickOnDetroit reported the school was locked down from 10:45 a.m. to 1 p.m., while a later Hometown Life report put the duration at 90 minutes and noted that police did not find any evidence of a weapon. A joint investigation involving Northville Township Police, Northville Public Schools, Michigan State Police and the Detroit FBI office in that earlier case led to the arrest of a 15-year-old student on Jan. 6, 2015, who was charged by the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office with false terroristic threats and with making a false report or threat of a bomb or harmful device, Hometown Life reported.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the outcome of the current investigation and the specific nature of the threatening call had not been made public.
