Honokaa school evacuated after ‘threatening’ call

HONOKAA — Police are investigating an alleged threat Wednesday morning at Honokaa High and Intermediate School that prompted administrators to evacuate and release students early.

Tanya Moeller, the parent of a Honokaa seventh-grader, said she received two calls from the school — the first about 11:30 a.m. — that notified parents of a “threatening phone call.”

Moeller said she was told the caller reportedly threatened to set off a bomb during fifth period. Fifth period is from 11:41 a.m.-12:18 p.m., according to the bell schedule posted on the school’s website.

Police said in a news release they responded late Wednesday morning to a report of a “threatening” message left earlier in the morning on the school’s voice mail system.

Police checked “every classroom and building but found no suspicious items,” the release said. Students were evacuated to the Honokaa sports complex as a precaution, and parents were notified to either pick them up or use provided bus transportation.

The incident prompted police to initiate a first-degree terroristic threatening case.

Moeller said her “heart dropped” after getting the first phone call from the school, and she rushed to the campus to pick up her daughter.

“There were so many people down at the complex gym,” Moeller said. “It was crazy.”

Moeller posted a screenshot of the school’s evacuation announcement to a Facebook group. She said she wanted to notify parents who might have been at work or unaware of the incident.

The school will resume a normal schedule today, said state Department of Education spokesman Derek Inoshita. Administrators plan to send a letter home to parents, he added.

Police ask anyone with information to call Officer Blake Ragoco at 775-7533 or the department’s nonemergency line at 935-3311.

Email Kirsten Johnson at kjohnson@hawaiitribune-herald.com.