Costa Mesa High receives bomb threat
Deepa Bharath
A Halloween Day bomb threat was found scribbled on a Costa Mesa
High School restroom wall Tuesday afternoon, police said.
Costa Mesa Police Sgt. Don Holford said a student found the
warning written in pencil, which read: “I will bomb the school on
10/31. Be ready.” The student alerted school officials, he said.
There is, however, no need for parents and students to panic,
Costa Mesa Police Chief Dave Snowden said.
“We have the situation well under control,” he said. “We treat
each and every one of these threats seriously. There is no question
of ‘crying wolf’ here.”
Holford said the discovery may well be a Halloween prank.
“That’s always a consideration,” he said. “But we’ll work with the
school to take the necessary precautions.”
Newport-Mesa Unified School District officials were not available
for comment on Wednesday.
The last reported bomb threat at Costa Mesa High School was in
April 2001, when a similar threat was found on a girls’ restroom
wall. That threat, which turned out to be bogus, said the bomb would
go off Friday the 13th.
The school district at the time hired a private security agency to
handle the situation. Security officers from the agency and police
officers combed the campus and checked lockers the night before April
13 and stayed throughout the entire school day.
* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be
reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at deepa.bharath@latimes.com.
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