Lincoln School evacuated in response to e-mailed bomb threat

Students at Lincoln Public Schools were evacuated to the Lincoln Methodist Church just after the start of the school day this morning after administrators found an email claiming there were explosives hidden in the building.

The same e-mail was sent to dozens of schools statewide Tuesday evening. Some reports indicate as many as 75 schools received the bomb threat.

"We didn't see it until this morning. Some of the bigger districts saw it earlier and started doing some searches last night," Lincoln Elementary School Principal Shane Brown said.

According to an emergency announcement on the Lincoln Schools website, lincolnlynx.com, the administration is in contact with law enforcement and don't believe the threat to be credible. Likewise, a post on the Helena Public Schools Facebook page said law enforcement and the FBI have determined the e-mails to be a hoax.

Brown said the e-mail's author alleged he or she was connected to the Houthis, the Yemeni terrorist group that has disrupted shipping in the Red Sea in response to the Israel-Palestinian conflict in Gaza.

Brown said the e-mail claimed explosives had been planted in the school where they would not be found and said not to bother looking.

Many of the larger school districts already completed searches of their buildings and are holding classes, but Lincoln students were sent home and the school will be searched out of an abundance of caution.

"Until we can conduct our search and clear the school, we'll treat it as a credible threat," Brown said.

Once the sweep of the school is completed, the school will be in contact with parents. Brown said it's likely the remainder of the school day will be cancelled and treated like a weather day since it will take time complete the search.

The bomb threats echo a similar series of hoax threats e-mailed to several schools across the state Dec. 14, although those threats were in the form of extortion and demanded money from the schools.