Tip gave warning of bomb at school

The Bonner County Sheriff’s Office in Idaho was alerted last week to a possible explosives threat against schools there and in neighboring Pend Oreille County, Wash., according to a news release Wednesday.

The release said the Sheriff’s Office received a tip Dec. 1 that someone was planning to place an explosive device at a school in either county later this month “as a distraction tactic to possibly commit another crime.”

“Once this information was uncovered, the Sheriff’s Office used every resource at its disposal to investigate this allegation,” the release said. The investigation also involved authorities from the Newport (Wash.) Police Department, the Pend Oreille County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The suspect in the case, the release said, is no longer in the area. That suspect was not named and officials from the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office could not be reached for comment Thursday afternoon.

According to the release, information in the case wasn’t released sooner because officials wanted to prevent “unnecessary panic” while they investigated the allegations.

Officials from both school districts in Bonner County said they hadn’t heard specifics on the nature of the threat.

Lake Pend Oreille Superintendent Mark Berryhill said he hadn’t even heard that there was a threat.

Tony Feldhausen, superintendent of the West Bonner County School District, said authorities assured him that “there was no danger for any of our kids.” He said he was told that the threat wasn’t very specific.

Officials in the Newport School District could not be reached for comment late Thursday afternoon.