Eugene Airport was forced to shut down operations for more than 90 minutes Wednesday because of a bomb threat. A 36-year-old Philomath woman was arrested in connection with the incident. (Photo by EUG737 via English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=58270296)

A bomb threat that turned out to be a hoax shut down Eugene Airport for over an hour and a half Wednesday afternoon and resulted in the arrest of a 36-year-old Philomath woman.

Law enforcement responded to the threat at 3:07 p.m. with Eugene Police airport officers, a Metro Explosives Disposal Unit and a University of Oregon Police Department bomb-K9 unit. Police investigators also arrived at the scene while the airport suspended regular operations.

After confirming that there were no explosives, the airport returned to normal operations at around 4:41 p.m., Eugene Police said.

The Philomath Police Department arrested Aubrey Michelle High later in the afternoon.

“Our officer was able to get her in a traffic stop after working with Eugene Police detectives,” Philomath Police Chief Dave Gurski said. “They sent a patrol unit and a detective up here to interview her once we got her in custody.”

High was transported to Eugene and lodged at Lane County Jail.

The Lane County District Attorney’s Office charged High with one count of misdemeanor first-degree disorderly conduct and alleges that she “unlawfully and knowingly created a risk of public inconvenience, annoyance and alarm by initiating or circulating a report concerning an impending emergency or catastrophe, defendant knowing the report to be false.”

High was scheduled to be arraigned Thursday afternoon in Lane County Circuit Court.

Brad Fuqua has covered the Philomath area since 2014 as the editor of the now-closed Philomath Express and currently as publisher/editor of the Philomath News. He has worked as a professional journalist since 1988 at daily and weekly newspapers in Nebraska, Kansas, North Dakota, Arizona, Montana and Oregon.