Alleged bomb really a telephone
June 18, 2008
By Laura Geggel
A handmade telephone intended as a friendly gift caused a bomb scare at Mount Si High School June 16.
Mount Si High School evacuated its students to the football stadium at about 11:10 a.m. after the main office opened a suspicious looking package – really an upside down telephone – addressed to a student.
According to Snoqualmie Police Public Information Officer Rebecca Munson, the school’s front office received the package June 13, but the student was absent. On Monday, the main office called the student to the office, where she informed them she was not expecting a package.
They opened the package upside-down and, when they noticed wires, called the police and evacuated the school to the neighboring stadium.
“We had an officer respond and he saw wires, so he called a bomb squad,” Munson said.
A multi-jurisdictional bomb squad sent in a robot to the staff conference room holding the package. The robot shot a blast of water at the phone to break it apart.
“One piece didn’t come apart,” said Munson. “So they sent in a bomb tech.”
The technician said that the package contained all of the components of a bomb, except for the explosives.
Police did not learn that the alleged bomb was actually a phone until they spoke with the gift-giver by phone the following day.
Police dialed in on the puzzle by turning to the school’s surveillance cameras.
The footage revealed a 16-year-old male student carrying in a box to the school’s office.
The student, who was out of town on Monday – the day of the evacuation – was unaware of the implications his gift had caused at Mount Si.
Snoqualmie Police contacted the boy’s parents and learned that no malice was intended in the delivering the package to the school’s office.
“The families know each other,” said Munson. “Apparently, it was a joke between (the students).”
No charges will be filed against the male gift-giver.
Police had another person-of-interest tied to the case. The girl who received the package said that an older man had been stalking her, Munson said.
If the package had been delivered with malicious intent, a suspect could have been charged with felony charges of malicious placement of an imitation device and intimidation or harassment with an explosive, according to Munson.
The phone gave the district an opportunity to ring up parents using its emergency system. In addition to posting updates on svsd410.org and leaving an information voicemail for anybody calling the main office, parents received a recorded message regarding the incident at their home and cell phone numbers.
“We got a positive message from parents about our emergency system,” said Carolyn Malcolm, public information coordinator for the Snoqualmie Valley School District. “The safety of our students if our foremost priority.”
Students remained at the Mount Si stadium until school was dismissed at 2:30 p.m. or until a parent came to collect them, although police closed off the main parking lot and asked that parents park elsewhere.
The school reopened from 4-6 p.m. for students who had left their belongings – including backpacks, keys and study materials – in their fourth-period class. Finals began on Tuesday, but students reported first to their fourth-period class to pick up any remaining belongings.
The last bomb scare at Mount Si High School happened Oct. 4, 2007. Snoqualmie Middle School had a bomb scare March 4.
Reporter Laura Geggel can be reached at 392-6434 x221 or lgeggel@snovalleystar.com.
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Regarding http://snovalleystar.com/2008/06/18/alleged-bomb-only-a-phone
I find this quote misleading and frustrating: “We got a positive message from parents about our emergency system,” said Carolyn Malcolm, public information coordinator for the Snoqualmie Valley School District. “The safety of our students is our foremost priority.”
If safety is #1, why doesnt the district realize that MSHS has no proactive emergency plan whatsoever. No lockdown drills, no actual plan if an armed intruder or student were present, no cohesive evacuation plan. None of the policies that are standard and commonplace at other HS.Pretty concerning and sickening if say your child attended, husband or wife works there. Do a little poking around. Why arent the administrators held accountable for such lapses of judgement and leadership. Why does the local paper get misled like everyone else into thinking that safety is accounted for. Wake up people! IT ISNT!