Multiple agencies respond to bomb threat at Western Dakota Tech
RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) - Early Friday morning, the campus of Western Dakota Tech was put on secure status after reports of a bomb threat.
The Rapid City Police Department, Pennington County Sheriff’s Office, and South Dakota Highway Patrol were all on the scene. Brendyn Medina, spokesperson for the RCPD, tells us that this was part of several threats made at secondary education institutions across South Dakota.
He says WDT was the only institution in Rapid City that received a threat, that he says police became aware of it around 9 AM.
WDT President Dr. Ann Bolman said that fortunately, not as many students are on campus during the summer, and it was easy to notify the students that were.
”We know where our students are on campus today, we can go right to them and get them the information, as opposed to sending it out electronically,” Bolman said.
The campus was released from secure status around 10:30.
Medina said that the cooperation between the departments and the school played a vital role in keeping the area secure.
“We have a strong connection with Western Dakota Tech through the form of a sector liaison that’s assigned to Western Dakota Tech. Obviously, we’re gong to take this as seriously as we need to and make sure there is no threat before we clear the scene.”
Medina said that the K-9 units found no evidence on any explosives on the campus.
Copyright 2022 KOTA. All rights reserved.