(CNN)Second gentleman Doug Emhoff is safe after being ushered out of a room at a Washington, DC, high school by the Secret Service after a bomb threat to the building, his spokesperson said.
“U.S. Secret Service was made aware of a security threat at a school where the @SecondGentleman was meeting with students and faculty. Mr. Emhoff is safe and the school has been evacuated. We are grateful to Secret Service and D.C. Police for their work,” Emhoff’s spokesperson Katie Peters wrote on Twitter.
District of Columbia Public Schools press secretary Enrique Gutierrez told reporters at the event that a bomb threat had been called into Dunbar High School in Northwest Washington, where Emhoff was holding an event.
“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 at the event.
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police Department confirmed to CNN that a bomb threat had been made.
Dunbar High School Principal Nadine Smith told reporters with the second gentleman that the children at the school had been sent home for the day.
“Our protocol is to clear the building and move the kids away. DCPS just gave us directions to make sure, to go ahead and send the kids home. We won’t be able to clear the building for probably another hour or two,” Smith told the reporters.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters at Tuesday’s news briefing that she did not have any updates on the situation but would update if the White House gets more information during the briefing.
Just after 3 p.m. ET Tuesday, a few dozen students were standing outside Dunbar across from the school after being evacuated. Local police officers were on scene, but for traffic control.
The DC Police Explosive Ordinance Disposal Unit is on the scene at the school, according to MPD spokesperson Kristen Metzger.
CNN has reached out to the Office of the Second Gentleman as well for comment.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
CNN’s Jeff Zeleny and Adrienne Winston contributed to this report.
