Bomb Threat at Parkview Elementary School

School Board President Ron Peterson, Principal Diane Nye, Lamar Police Chief Gary McCrea

Lamar Police responded to a bomb threat detected this morning (9/28) on a playground bench at Parkview Elementary School. Parkview Principal, Diane Nye, said the message was brought to her attention by a student, and at that point, 7:55am, she alerted the police and had the school evacuated using the school fire alarm.

Lamar Police Chief Gary McCrea said he had a team conduct a thorough search of the premises and no explosive device was detected. At that point, the students were returned to their classes. Principal Nye said the students were not initially told there was a bomb scare, but the students will be briefed on the importance of such incidents. The principal said the school has routine drills, for a variety of situations, whether its lockdown, tornado, fire or evacuation drills. Nye said the District’s IRIS alert was also used to inform parents of the situation. School Board President Ron Peterson and board member, Tim Wheaton was also notified of the situation and was on hand. Peterson said he was glad to see the situation brought under control so quickly, and was well-handled by everyone involved.

The note, written in magic marker simply stated, “There is a bomb in the school”. Chief McCrea said there was nothing added such as a date, time or location of a device, and that it would be difficult at this point to determine who wrote the message, or even when it was written. “It could have been this morning, or several days ago, there’s no way to tell,” the Chief added. A press release issued by Principal Nye said, “The school administration appreciates the prompt response of the police department and first responders and the cooperation of the students and staff.”

This incident marks the third bomb scare in the Lamar School District in about seven years. Lamar High School was evacuated this past winter when a written message was brought to the attention of school officials, and the Lamar Middle School was also evacuated when a bomb threat message was discovered in 2004.

By Russ Baldwin