Popping noise leads to second lockdown in 2 days at Eisenhower Elementary in Hazel Dell

Staff locked down Eisenhower Elementary School in Hazel Dell on Thursday afternoon when someone there reported hearing a worrisome and suspicious popping noise. It was the second lockdown at the school in two days.

Vancouver Public Schools spokeswoman Pat Nuzzo said the school was on lockdown for about 20 minutes starting around 1:50 p.m.

Someone at the campus thought they heard a popping noise, she said, but nothing was found that indicated its source.

She said there’s some construction going on nearby, which might have contributed, along with a general heightened sensitivity.

The day before, she said, a teaching aide heard a popping noise while everyone was out on the playground, spurring a 20-minute lockdown Wednesday morning.

Responding deputies found that a plastic soda bottle containing a dry-ice mix had popped, Nuzzo said. Another bottle was found next to it, she said.

The bottles were on a path in the park behind the school, Nuzzo said. Deputies detonated the other bottle with the help of Portland’s bomb squad, she said.