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.