Two students arrested after threats

Clark County School District police arrested two students Tuesday and expected to make another arrest today in connection with two separate incidents -- a bomb threat and a threat of violence.

School police apprehended an Eldorado High School freshman for making a bomb threat Tuesday. Authorities swept the school six times looking for bombs, but did not evacuate the students.

Police arrested a Keller Middle School student for making a threat to "carry out a violent act," school spokesman Ray Willis said. He said school police were expecting to arrest another Keller student today.

School officials held a press conference today to assure the public they check out all rumors, Willis said. None have been verified.

Willis said extra police have been sent to other local high schools since April 20 to supplement the two officers who are stationed at each building.

"The Columbine tragedy has people worked up emotionally," Willis said. "But we don't know of any direct threats on anyone's personal safety as a result of the rumors."

School officials and parents are jittery over bomb threat rumors at Clark County high schools one week after two bomb-toting students went on a killing spree in Littleton, Colo.

On Tuesday, additional school police were dispatched to southwest Las Vegas' Durango High School after rumors of a bomb threat circulated.

Last week, three Green Valley High School students were asked to remove black trench coats similar to those worn by the Colorado killers.

Bomb threats are nothing new to school leaders.

But now they have to weed out student pranks from serious threats.

Willis added that someone has been making bomb threats to a district elementary school for weeks -- beginning before the tragedy at Littleton's Columbine High School.

"We take every threat at face value," Willis said. "Our response is consistent with what we discern from the caller."

School officials have written guidelines to help them determine whether threats are valid enough to evacuate students for bomb searches.

School principals and secretaries have a "bomb threat checklist" they follow whenever they answer the phone and a bomb threat is made.

According to the checklist, school officials are to evaluate the caller's voice (child, male, female, intoxicated, speech impediment) and listen for background noise (music, machines, cars, typing, babies, airplanes).

School officials also ask the caller: What kind of bomb? When will it go off? Where is the bomb? What size is it? Why are you doing this?

"Our procedures are simple but spelled out in detail," Willis said. "If a threat were real, we would want to be able to have a fighting chance to get all the students out of the building safely."

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