Second gentleman Doug Emhoff evacuated from DC high school due to bomb threat

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Secret Service evacuated second gentleman Doug Emhoff from a Washington high school on Tuesday afternoon following a bomb threat.

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Katie Peters, Emhoff’s communications director, said in a statement that the second gentleman was safe after Tuesday’s incident.

The husband to Vice President Kamala Harris was evacuated from Dunbar High School amid an event to commemorate Black History Month. He was in the middle of a presentation when he was whisked out of the room by a Secret Service agent just before 2:20 p.m., WJLA-TV reported.

>> Related: At least 6 HBCUs targeted by bomb threats

Around 2:35 p.m., an announcement over the school’s intercom urged teachers and students to evacuate, according to White House press pool reports. Enrique Gutierrez, a spokesperson for District of Columbia Public Schools, said officials “took the precaution of evacuating everybody” after the school received a bomb threat.

“I think everyone is safe,” he said, according to the White House press pool. “The building is clear. But I don’t have any specific details at this moment.”

Dunbar High School principal Nadine Smith said around 3 p.m. that officials expected it to take an hour or two to clear the building. In the meantime, she said students were being sent home.

>> Related: HBCU bomb threats: 6 juveniles named persons of interest in investigation

Dunbar, in northwest D.C., was the first high school in the country to serve African American students. Emhoff was visiting to learn about a program in which students get the opportunity to serve as docents and historical scholars on the life of the historian and author Carter Woodson and local Black history.

Tuesday’s bomb threat came one week after several historically Black colleges and universities received bomb threats. Six juveniles have since been identified as persons of interest in the incidents.

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Evacuation Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, is whisked out of an event at a high school by a Secret Service agent following an apparent security concern, Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022 in Washington. On the far right is Nadine Smith, Dunbar principal. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP)

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