CLIVE, Iowa — A shock of fear spread through Clive Monday afternoon after bomb threats were made towards two child care centers.
Cadance Academy Preschool and KinderCare on Hickman Road were forced to evacuate around 3:30 p.m. on Monday. Clive Police say the inquiry came in around 10:30 a.m. and was noticed just after 3 p.m.
Chief Mark Rehberg, with the Clive Police Department says the email said something along the lines of "essentially, there's a bomb in your building and it's going to blow up."
It was only sent to the Cadance Academy's email inquiry inbox but was targeted towards both child care centers.
Clive PD credits both centers for the actions they took.
"They did a good job," Rehberg said. "They got them away from where the potential threat may have been, and we were able to get there and go inside and, like I say, clear the building and not find anything."
KinderCare Learning Companies provided Local 5 with a statement following the threat saying:
Nothing is more important to us than the safety of the children in our care. One crucial way we ensure the well-being of every child in our care is by regularly training our teachers and staff to quickly respond to emergencies. Yesterday, Cadence Academy notified our Hickman center of a bomb threat they received. Since our programs are close to one another, we quickly put our emergency response plan into practice by calling 9-1-1, evacuating the children and notifying families.
Clive PD and Fire searched the buildings and did not find any threat.
Rehberg says there is no credible reason for any lingering cause for concern, especially because of the security in both facilities.
"Not being able to find anything in there, along with those other procedures in place and those policies that they have, as far as getting in and out to get your kids, that made us comfortable that it was okay for them to open back up," Rehberg said.
Police are now investigating with federal partners to find out who sent the email threat.
A new Iowa law now makes swatting calls like this a felony, something Chief Rehberg says is helpful.
"It gives us a more powerful tool to use against them," Rehberg said. "Hopefully, it's preventative to keep other people from doing it. Anything we can do to strengthen the laws as a deterrent is always going to be a good thing. "
Clive PD says the most important thing parents can do now is make sure their contact information is up to date at child care centers and with the schools.
The matter is still under investigation, but both centers have reopened operations as normal.