Doug Emhoff ushered out of event at Dunbar High School following bomb threat

WASHINGTON (AP) - Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, was whisked out of an event Tuesday at a D.C. high school by Secret Service agents following a bomb threat.

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Emhoff was at Dunbar High School for an event in commemoration of Black History Month. He was in the school's museum for about five minutes before a member of his security detail approached him saying, "we have to go."

Emhoff was removed from the building into his waiting motorcade.

Students and educators at the school were instructed to leave the school, with an overhead announcement saying, "evacuate the building."

District of Columbia Public Schools spokesperson Enrique Gutierrez, who was at Dunbar for Emhoff’s appearance, said there had been a bomb threat.

A Secret Service spokesperson provided this statement on the incident:

"This afternoon during an event attended by a Secret Service protectee, the Secret Service was made aware of a threat to the venue and immediately evacuated the protectee. At this time there is no information to indicate the threat was directed toward our protectee. In order to maintain operational security, the Secret Service does not discuss our protectees or the means and methods used to conduct our protective operations."

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The threat came in a phone call to the front desk announcing there was a bomb inside and giving people 10 minutes to leave, Executive Assistant Police Chief Ashan Benedict said. The information was passed along to the Secret Service, prompting Emhoff to be moved out of the area, he said.

Police used bomb technicians and dogs to search the building and concluded there was no threat, Benedict said. Based on a preliminary investigation, it does not appear that the threat is related to a series of threats made to historically Black colleges in the U.S., Benedict said.

After evacuating the building, students, teachers and other staff gathered outside on the high school football field. Students were sent home since it was close to their regular dismissal time and it would have taken several hours for security officials to clear the building, principal Nadine Smith said.

Peters said Emhoff’s event likely would be rescheduled.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.