Eureka High School Lockdown Lifted After Phone Threat Deemed Not Credible

Eureka High School locked down at 2:37 p.m. on March 18, 2025, after an outside caller phoned in a threat against the campus, prompting a rapid Eureka Police Department response that ultimately cleared students for release at normal dismissal.

Eureka High posted a notice to social media and sent it directly to parents shortly after the lockdown began: "EHS is currently in lockdown due to a security concern. We are actively working with law enforcement to assess the situation and we will provide updates as soon as possible." The school explicitly asked parents to stay off campus and to stop calling the school, warning that calls and arrivals would interfere with authorities managing the situation.

By 3:07 p.m., the school announced it had downgraded the situation to a soft lockdown while awaiting guidance from law enforcement. EPD Public Information Officer Laura Montagna confirmed that the school was under a soft lockdown as officers assessed conditions. As Redheaded Blackbelt noted in its coverage, neither EPD nor EHS formally defined the term, but a soft lockdown generally means no immediate danger exists inside the building, exterior doors are locked, movement within the school may be restricted, and regular instruction can continue.

At approximately 3:30 p.m., EPD confirmed that the threat did not appear credible and students were released at normal dismissal time. The department described the origin plainly: a phone call from an outside source. "This afternoon Eureka High School received a threat from an outside source via phone," EPD stated. "Given the nature of the threat, Eureka Police Department was notified and the school went on lockdown." The investigation remained open as of the department's final update that afternoon.

The March 18 incident did not occur in isolation. EPD stated it was aware of multiple threats called into local schools and businesses across the city and county over the preceding days, and said it was working with local and federal law enforcement agencies. EPD's School Resource Officer and Criminal Investigations Detectives were both brought into the investigation. At least five other Humboldt County schools, including Arcata Elementary, Sunny Brae Middle School, Fuente Nueva Charter School, Trinidad Elementary, and Grant Elementary, reported receiving similar anonymous phone threats that prompted lockdowns, most of which were also lifted following police response. EPD said it appeared at the time that the individual making the threats was located outside Humboldt County, though investigators stopped short of a definitive identification.

The wave of threats in March 2025 echoed a difficult stretch for Eureka High the previous fall. October 2024 brought at least three separate threats to the campus, including a bomb threat on October 1 that resulted in student evacuation and a second bomb threat the following week that led to a student arrest and reports of a bomb squad on campus. "There's been a bunch of these, and it's scary that the kid's still out there," EHS student Jesse Crause told the Times-Standard during that period. "They need to stop threatening the school because I'm tired of school being locked down," added fellow student Mia Adonneoo.

As of EPD's last public statement on March 18, no arrests had been announced in connection with the phone threat, and the investigation was continuing.