EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn — The campus of Eden Prairie High School was placed on lockdown early Friday afternoon after district administrators say an anonymous threat was made.
Police said they were notified of the unspecified threat around 12:45 p.m. and immediately responded and enacted lockdown response procedures. Eden Prairie Schools confirmed in a Facebook message that a threat had been made and while the school was in lockdown "out of an abundance of caution" but said activities inside the building were continuing as normal, albeit with additional staff support.
"Classes and learning will continue in the building and students will not be allowed to exit until we are able to give an all-clear," the post read.
Just after 4 p.m., Eden Prairie Schools tweeted that the police department had given the all-clear to lift the "stay-put" lockdown. Families are asked to check their emails for directions regarding school dismissal.
"All high school activities this evening are canceled, and tonight’s football game will move to noon tomorrow," the district said.
A short time later, the police department issued a statement, confirming the lifting of the lockdown and the absence of any credible threat.
Earlier in the day, the district assured parents that police were on site checking the building and investigating the source of the threat. It also reminded families that recently there have been similar threats across the state and country, and all were found to be untrue.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) confirmed that on Sept. 21 at least 14 schools across the state received threatening messages about an active shooter threat that were strikingly similar.
Districts and communities impacted included Minneapolis, New Ulm, Mankato Fairmont, St. Paul, Rochester, Alexandria, Cloquet, Austin, Fergus Falls, Brainard, Rosemount, Grand Rapids and Bemidji. The agency sent out an alert on that day telling districts, staff and students that the calls seemed to be what is known as swatting, where a prank call is made in an attempt to trigger a large law enforcement response to a particular address.
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