Extra police sent to one Vegas high school as rumors run rampant over violence

Tuesday, April 27, 1999 | 4:47 a.m.

Clark County School District officials said they were checking out all the rumors and had verified none. But that didn't stop students from being fearful and parents from thinking about taking their children out of school until the rumors subside.

"There's a great deal of uncertainty and unrest throughout the district," district spokesman Ray Willis said. "There are rumors everywhere, but we have not found anything tangible so far."

Extra school police were sent to Durango High School on the city's southwest side Tuesday amid rumors of a bomb threat.

Willis said extra police may have also been sent to other high schools to supplement the usual two officers.

"The Columbine tragedy has people worked up emotionally," Willis said. "But we don't know of any direct threats on anyone's personal safety as a result of the rumors."

Willis said callers have reported the rumors to the Las Vegas Police Secret Witness line and two school tip hotlines. But he said there have been no direct threats.

Willis said he was not sure if absenteeism was up in the schools because attendance is not reported immediately.

But he said the district was considering calling a press conference Wednesday to try and calm the rumors.

"We want to lay all of this to rest," he said. "If students are fearful for their safety even while it is unwarranted, that's unsettling to us."