Costa Mesa : Prankster May Have Made Bomb Threats

Authorities speculated that a student trying to get out of mid-term exams may have been responsible for two prank bomb threats at Orange Coast College Friday morning.

A male caller told campus security around 7:45 a.m. that a bomb had been placed in the Science Lecture Hall. The building was evacuated, but a search turned up nothing.

A second bomb threat from a male caller came in at 9:13 a.m., this one directly to the Costa Mesa Police Department.

“But again,” said Police Lt. Jim Watson, “campus security and one of officers cleared the building, checked it out and did not find anything. Campus security thought it was probably a prank because of the mid-terms.”

Watson said he did not know how many students in the science building had to be evacuated or how many may have been taking mid-term examinations at the time.

He added that the caller had not stayed on the line long enough to trace the call and that police had no leads in identifying him. “There’s not much more to pursue now.” he said.