PREVIOUSLY:

###

An extradition warrant has been issued for the out-of-state individual who is believed to be responsible for a string of threatening phone calls to Humboldt County schools. The threats, which have been deemed non-credible by local law enforcement officials, have prompted lockdowns at several local schools. Just today, Arcata High School, Coastal Grove Charter School, Pacific Union Middle School and Jacoby Creek School were put under a brief lockdown.

“We are in contact with Arcata Police [Department], who do not think the threat is credible,” Arcata High School Principal Kristin Ferderber wrote in a statement issued to parents early this afternoon. The school directed students and staff to “shelter in place” while APD investigated the threat. The lockdown has since been lifted.

In a press release issued Wednesday afternoon, local law enforcement said they were able to track down an out-of-state adult male suspect who’s believed to have phoned in threats to “over 20 schools and businesses” since January.

Reached for additional information this afternoon, Arcata Police Chief Bart Silvers confirmed that the threats made today appear to be from the same suspect. “A local full extradition arrest warrant has been issued and sent to the out-of-state agency for service,” Silvers wrote in an email to the Outpost. “We are currently working with them to locate and apprehend the suspect.”