On Monday, April 11, an automated weapon threat was called into West High. This message was discovered early Monday morning and Superintendent Matt Degner and the authorities were contacted. An email was also sent to parents and staff, and later forwarded to students. Police officers arrived quickly on scene and have continued to be stationed outside the building throughout the day. 

“We were hoping that quickly we would be told that this is not credible, that this is a hoax. They weren’t able to do that as quickly as we wanted so that’s what prompted us to send the message out.” said West High Principal Mitch Gross. 

The seriousness of the threat has yet to be determined. “My own two children attend school here so I take the safety of this building very seriously and we do everything we can to ensure the safety of everybody.” Gross said. “We’re as vigilant as we can be. We are very appreciative of the swift response of the Iowa City Police Department and we’re very hopeful that this will be deemed a non-credible threat.”

This story is still developing.