Bogus bomb threat

A false bomb threat called in Friday to a local elementary school may have been an attempt to divert law enforcement officers from serving an arrest warrant.

Shortly after 1 p.m., a male caller told office staff at Atlas Elementary in Hayden there was a bomb in the building.

The sheriff's office, Coeur d'Alene Police, Idaho State Police and Northern Lakes Fire responded.

Students and staff were evacuated from the school, and relocated to the Panhandle Health District Building that sits adjacent to the school on Atlas Road, north of Prairie Avenue.

"During the first few minutes of the call, we were able to use the number off the school's Caller ID to obtain a name of a possible suspect," said Sheriff Ben Wolfinger, in a press release.

Deputies quickly learned that detectives with the North Idaho Violent Crimes Task Force were at the suspect's house, attempting to serve an arrest warrant for unrelated charges.

Jacob R. Moore, 25, was taken into custody and booked into Kootenai County jail for the original felony warrant. He is also facing new charges related to the bomb threat: Making of a false report of a bomb at a school, obstructing an officer and possession of drug paraphernalia.

The students and staff, who were on lockdown in the Panhandle Health District building, were allowed to return to the school building after it was cleared.

"If they had found a device, they would have evacuated Panhandle Health as well," said Coeur d'Alene School Superintendent Matt Handelman.

Handelman said the buses were there, ready to move the students to another location, if it was determined that the threat was viable.

"The reason we have drills is to be ready for this sort of thing," Handelman said. "When it happens our priority is to get kids out of the building and keep them safe and warm."

He commended Atlas principal Karen Troxell and her staff on how they handled the situation.

"Ultimately, everything happened that needed to," Handelman said.