Second gentleman Doug Emhoff ushered out of DC high school over bomb threat

On Tuesday afternoon, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, was ushered out of an event at Dunbar High School in Northwest Washington, DC, after a bomb threat had been reported.

Secret Service agents removed Emhoff from the building at 2:18 pm, with Emhoff’s staff telling reporters at the event that the school had reported a threat aimed at the building to the US Secret Service, according to CBS News.

Emhoff was visiting the high school's Museum of Dunbar History for a Black History Month event. The school, founded in 1870, was the nation’s first public high school specifically for black students.

At 2:34 pm, an announcement came over the loudspeakers telling teachers to evacuate the school, along with the reporters. Students, who had been assembled for 4th period at the time, gathered in the school's field during the incident.

DC Public Schools press secretary Enrique Gutierrez confirmed there had been a bomb threat and that everyone was safe.

"We had a threat today to the facility so we did — basically we took the precaution of evacuating everybody, as you saw. I think everyone is safe. The building is clear. But I don't have any specific details at this moment," Gutierrez told reporters.

Dunbar Principal Nadine Smith said that the school district directed the high school to send their students home after the building was determined to be clear.

Police and the US Secret Service are investigating the incident at this time.

In a press briefing Tuesday afternoon, executive assistant Chief of Police Ashan Benedict said that the caller, who delivered the message to the school’s front desk, gave those inside the building 10 minutes to leave. He noted that the department’s bomb tech and explosive detecting dogs are dispatched to sweep the school.

"I did check with my partners at the FBI. This particular threat, I can't say where this is preliminary, so I can't say with any certainty it's not related to the recent threats with historically black colleges, but our partners at the FBI Washington field office will work with us to kind of decipher what we have here and make those links if any. But this time it doesn’t appear to be related," said Benedict.

When asked whether the threat had anything to do with Emhoff’s visit, Benedict said that at this time there is no indication that the two are connected.

"I spoke to our colleagues at the Secret Service, there was no indication that this threat was directed towards Mr. Emhoff, but again, the Secret Service protective intelligence will prepare a statement, they will release that to you all, related to this incident about the Vice President’s visit — the Vice President’t husband’s visit here today, but it doesn’t appear related," Benedict stated.

Benedict also noted that investigators are currently tracing the number associated with the phone call and conducting interviews to determine who did it.