Federal Way bomb squad clears scene at high school second day in a row

Published 5:06 pm Thursday, April 2, 2015

A bomb squad cleared the scene at Todd Beamer High School for the second time this week after school officials received a bomb threat today, this time in the form of an email.

The email was sent at 12:15 p.m. and the school was evacuated at 12:20 p.m. because the email alluded that the school would blow up at 12:30 p.m., said district spokeswoman Ann Cook.

Using the bomb threat protocol, students were instructed to leave all backpacks, personal items and belongings inside of the school as they evacuated. After 45 minutes, security identified a backpack they wanted to investigate and the bomb squad was called in.

However, the bomb unit was coming from Tacoma and there was a “significant delay in arrival,” Cook said.

“The district response team decided to put in place an early dismissal because we didn’t think we’d be able to get to the school to examine the item prior to the 2:05 p.m. dismissal,” she said. “At just about 2 p.m. when kids were ready to depart, the bomb squad gave the all clear and lots of students were able to get their items.”

There was a delay because the backpack was located near the buses and so every school bus had to be lined up along the street. That, coupled with concerned parents rushing to pick up their children, caused significant traffic delays.

Because not every student could retrieve their belongings, the district agreed to keep the school open until 7 p.m. today. Cook said students will be escorted inside of the school to pick up those items.

“The threat is a hoax like yesterday,” Cook said.

Students’ parents were notified at 12:30 p.m., 1:44 p.m., 2:19 p.m. and 2:30 p.m., after the school was cleared.

Cook said making bomb threats against a school is a class B felony and has very serious legal implications. It has prompted an ongoing police investigation into yesterday’s and today’s threats and anyone with information can call 253-945-SAFE(7233).

School officials evacuated Todd Beamer High School about five to 10 minutes early from the end of school yesterday after students reported seeing a graffitied bomb threat written on a girl’s bathroom stall.

The threat stated there was an explosive device that would go off in the building at 2 p.m. that day, however, no such thing happened.

The bomb unit was called after staff found a suspicious package in the bushes outside the building, which turned out to be nonexplosive.

Cook said many parents have asked if there’s a plan put in place for tomorrow if the same threats occur.

“We have to have school regularly scheduled and we’d like to have a regular school day tomorrow,” she said. “Honestly, we wish we could guarantee it won’t happen again but we can’t.”

Cook said this week’s occurrences are a good reminder for families to talk about having plans in place for situations such as these.

“This is an opportunity to talk about how your family will communicate,” she said.