False bomb threat prompts school evacuation

A false bomb scare Thursday at Brinley Middle School gave about 900 students a head start on their Independence Day holiday.

Students in general seemed in a festive mood as they left the school grounds at 2480 Maverick St., but the mood of some parents was somewhat more subdued when they couldn't locate their children.

"These people are idiots," said Jody Szurgot, who arrived at 2:20 p.m. to pick up her 13-year-old niece but after 40 minutes had been unable to find the teenager.

The day's excitement began at 11 a.m. when a message was left on the school's voice mail that a bomb would go off at 1:15 p.m.

Jeanne Donadio, assistant principal, said the voice was disguised but sounded older than a middle school student.

Custodians and campus monitors began searching for the bomb and a memo was sent to teachers alerting them to the situation.

"The school district has a policy for these situations, there are clear procedures," Donadio said. "We pulled out the policy and followed it step-by-step."

Students were unaware of the bomb scare until they were evacuated at 12:55 p.m., shortly after suspicious-looking pvc pipes were found in the school's boiler room.

Clark County School Police spokesman Ken Young said the plastic pipe was wrapped very neatly and resembled a bomb.

The fake bomb was found at 12:30 p.m. and the fire department was called.

Students were sent with their teachers to designated areas northeast and southeast of the school building, where roll was taken and everyone accounted for, according to Donadio.

School buses were called in early to take students home.

Donadio said by the time the buses arrived it was close to the normal dismissal time of 2:23 p.m. so students were not going to get home much earlier than usual.

She said students who normally take the bus were sent home on buses and those who normally walk home were given the option of riding a bus if they wanted to.

Students who are routinely picked up were kept at the school until their rides arrived, at least most of them were.

"Her mother is going to be real angry," said Szurgot, who was still looking for her niece at 3 p.m. "The school didn't bother to call or anything."

But the problems seemed few in number.

"I think things went real well," said Donadio, substituting for vacationing principal Alan McNulty. "We had the time to do a thorough search of the building and to call police."

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