Washington state school, scene of 2014 shooting, evacuated after bomb threat

SEATTLE (Reuters) - A Washington state high school that was the scene of a shooting rampage in October was evacuated on Wednesday after a bomb threat, a school district spokesman said. The bomb threat was made in a robotic phone message at about 1:45 p.m. PST to an office at Marysville-Pilchuck High School, the site of a shooting last year in which five teenage students were killed, including the gunman. "Police are on the scene now and sweeping the campus with bomb-sniffing dogs," Marysville School District spokesman Aaron Toso said. "They are not allowing vehicles to leave the parking lot until they have been cleared." Toso said it was not immediately clear whether there was a bomb on the campus, about an hour's drive north of Seattle. In October, a 15-year-old student, Jaylen Fryberg, opened fire on a cafeteria gathering of his cousins and three close friends he had arranged via text message, before turning the weapon on himself. The killings marked the latest in a string of shooting rampages at U.S. schools and other public places that have renewed a national debate about student safety and the extent of gun control regulation. Area police tweeted after Wednesday's evacuation that parents could pick up their children at a nearby church where students were sheltered after the shooting. Police officials could not immediately be reached for comment. (Reporting by Victoria Cavaliere and Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Eric Beech)