Bomb threat evacuates Tate High School

Bomb threats caused evacuations at an Iowa City high school and three other schools in Iowa on Monday, when many schools nationwide also reported bomb threats.

Tate High School in Iowa City was evacuated after receiving a phone call about a bomb threat, Iowa City Police Sgt. Chris Akers and school staff confirmed.

Valley High School in West Des Moines, Excelsior Middle School in Marion and Altoona Elementary School also were evacuated after receiving similar threats, police said.

RELATED: Wave of bomb threats hits schools nationwide

A phone call of a bomb threat came to Tate Monday morning, Kristin Pedersen, the district's coordinator of community affairs, said via email. Iowa City police were notified, and students were sent home as the department assessed the threat, Pedersen said. The police department could not provide specific details. An email was sent to Tate parents at 12:30 p.m., Pedersen said.

In Altoona, an automated phone call came to the elementary school at 11:54 a.m., saying bombs were inside the school, said Mattia Hansen, a spokeswoman for the Southeast Polk School District.

All students were relocated to Altoona Methodist Church until their parents could pick them up or until their regular school bus route could take them home, school officials said.

Valley High School received a phone call with a bomb threat shortly before 1:20 p.m., said West Des Moines Police spokesman Sgt. Jason Bryan, who declined to provide specific details about the call.

It is unclear whether any of the threats are connected, but Bryan said that is being investigated by police.

Other schools across the U.S. on Monday reportedly received bomb threats.

"This might be a nationwide situation, we don't know yet," Bryan said.

Police have not reported finding any evidence to substantiate the threats in Iowa.

Other states that have seen bomb threats include Delaware, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, New York, Vermont, Minnesota, Montana and others, according to media reports.

In Marion, the Linn-Mar Community School District received a call at 12:03 p.m. that was routed to Excelsior Middle School, Marion Police Lt. Lance Miller said. The call was a "robo-call," or automated phone call with a bomb threat, he said.

The school was safely evacuated and police will investigate the threat, Miller said.

Iowa City Press-Citizen reporter Andy Davis and Des Moines Register reporters MacKenzie Elmer and Charly Haley contributed to this article.