Bomb Threat at AHS a Bigger Scare than Finals

STEPHANIE LEE
Co-Editor in Chief
On Jan. 27 at approximately 8:00 a.m., AHS students were interrupted from their finals by the ringing of a lockdown bell. The lockdown was in response to a 911 call only minutes before, reporting threats of an explosive device on campus. After searching school grounds with the help of AHS and district personnel, the Alhambra Police Department (APD) found nothing to support the initial claims and ruled the incident a false alarm.
“If the caller was a student, to disrupt the educational process at such a level [means] expulsion from the entire district,” said Principal Brad Walsh. “It was obvious the caller was a juvenile.”
However, the culprit faces serious legal charges as well. Calling in a fake bomb threat is a felony, and all felonies, said Sergeant Brandon Black of the APD could lead to serving time in state prisons. Further, if the caller was a minor, he or she could still be prosecuted as an adult.
“[A situation] like this is taken seriously because it’s an act of terrorism,” said Black. “When the person is caught, the department and courts won’t take it lightly.”
The school used the web-based Connect Ed system to contact parents. The first message was recorded by Walsh and sent to all numbers recorded in its database. Soon after, recordings in multiple languages were created. According to Black, around 50 parents showed up at AHS and were addressed in the parking lot of nearby Rick’s.
“I was very nervous because I wasn’t sure what was happening. I tried calling my son but I couldn’t reach him so I tried getting a hold of him through his brother and sister,” said parent Domitila Guerrero.
Meanwhile, students were held in their classrooms for around 20 minutes into the next period. However, the C-building was evacuated for reasons that Black could not disclose pending an ongoing investigation.
“Those students [who were evacuated] had to find another time to finish taking their final; the caller used poor judgment at best,” said Deputy Superintendent Harold Standerfer.
Some students moved to the gym didn’t see it as too dangerous.
“I felt it wasn’t a big deal; it seemed like too much of a coincidence that it happened during finals. The possible dangers didn’t really hit anyone,” said sophomore Magan Chiang, whose first final was in the C-building.
Both the school and APD agreed that protocols for dealing with these occurrences worked well and that the safety is always the priority.