Colorado Mountain College bomb threat suspect in custody; classes to resume Tuesday

LEADVILLE, Colo. — Students of the small Colorado Mountain College campus in Leadville were alerted Monday to a bomb threat called in just after 9 a.m.

First described as an active threat, authorities swarmed the campus, calling in the Department of Corrections to help establish a perimeter, as well as the El Paso County Sheriff's Office Bomb Squad to aid in the investigation. 

"I kind of walked outside, everyone was grouped up, they had evacuated us and they were just herding us into the cafe," said Colorado Mountain College freshman Frank Lisjak.

Police confirmed a suspect had been taken into custody hours after acknowledging the threat, noting they believe this is the only suspect in the threat. The Lake County Sheriff's Office helped to partially evacuate the Colorado Mountain College campus, then place the school on lockout. 

"There were police everywhere making sure everything was cool, surveying the whole area," Lisjak said. "When they did let some people leave, they wouldn't let us go near the library. there's a back road down the hill that we all took."

Other nearby schools of the Lake County School District also entered emergency protocol. 

All Leadville schools, including West Park Elementary, Lake County Intermediate School and Lake County High School confirmed they entered lockout due to the nearby threat. Police described the schools as in lockdown, but an operator for the Lake County School District described their status as in lockout. 

Just before 5 p.m., the campus said its classes for the remainder of Monday were canceled. Class is expected to resume Tuesday, according to the school.

By 7 p.m., all emergency responders to the scene had been released, according to Lake County Emergency Management, which said that the backpack and campus were free of threats.

A news conference is expected to be held Tuesday at 11 a.m. at the campus on the incident.

Leadville is a sleepy town of several thousand residents. Situated inside the town is the small campus of Colorado Mountain College, which hosts between 100 and 200 full-time students. 

Denver7 will update this developing story with more details when they are available.