Lincoln Middle School and Alameda High School sheltered in place for about 40 minutes on Monday, April 14, following a threatening telephone call received by the schools’ front office staff, according to an Alameda Unified School District (AUSD) report posted at 3:30 p.m., about an hour after the shelter in place was lifted.
“AUSD immediately contacted law enforcement, who went out to the sites out of an abundance of caution,” the report stated. They also spent some time investigating the nature of the call. Ultimately, they decided this was a prank call, likely related to a TikTok challenge, and the shelter in place was lifted at about 2:25 p.m.”
The school district sent three notifications via ParentSquare to staff and families, according to the AUSD report. A notice also was posted on the AUSD and Alameda Peeps Facebook pages, with information about updates from 1:58 p.m., 2:10 p.m., and 2:26 p.m.
The first update, at 1:58 p.m., stated: “Out of an abundance of caution, both Lincoln Middle School and Alameda High School are now sheltering in place due to a threatening phone call. AUSD leadership is in touch with law enforcement. There is no imminent threat but we are being cautious and will provide an update shortly.”
The second update, at 2:10 p.m., stated: “We still have no indication that the threat at LMS and AHS is credible. However, both schools are still sheltering, and police units are being sent out to both sites. All students and staff are safe, and we ask that families stay away from the schools. We will update you shortly.”
The final update, at 2:26 p.m., stated “Law enforcement believes this was a crank call. The shelters in place are now being lifted. Alameda Police Department will remain on site at both schools, however, out of an abundance of caution. Families will receive a summary of the incident later today.”
According to online comments, some parents had not received the final text message update, which stated that police had determined the call was a hoax and that the shelter in place had been lifted.
AUSD Senior Manager of Community Affairs Susan Davis immediately responded to Facebook commenters and re-sent the district’s text message update from 2:26. Davis said she did not know why the message didn’t go through. Most of the parents confirmed that the 3:25 p.m. message was labeled “re-send.”
Several parents expressed their frustration and concern about not receiving the final update until an hour after the shelter in place was lifted, echoing the comment that, “This happened last time as well and it’s very disconcerting to not receive the all-clear message.” Another parent wrote, “This happened the last time there was one at AHS, too. Please, we really need to close the loops on these things—I was waiting a bit anxiously for official resolution.”
Ultimately, most parents expressed feeling grateful that their children were being kept safe—and that this time was a prank call and not a true threat.
