The kid who cried 'bomb'
|
|
March 26, 2013 |
The tenth bomb threat so far this school year in
Bonners Ferry was reported March 19, 2013. This
has been the most ridiculous school year yet for
bomb threats. These are extremely serious
situations and shouldn’t be taken lightly,
although, in my own opinion, I believe some
people in our little community are becoming
almost immune, treating them as if it were the
story of the boy who cried wolf.
I received a call Monday, March 18, from my five
year old daughters’ kindergarten teacher, Mrs.
Alverez, at around 2:35 p.m.
The call seemed to have come from a personal
cell phone. She asked me if I was going to be
home so I could greet my daughter, Amelia, when
she got off the bus, or if I would prefer to
pick her up from the school, due to an early
release day.
I was confused as to why they were getting out
early, but I told Mrs. Alverez that I was home
and to please send Amelia on the bus.
When Amelia got home at around 3:30 p.m., I
asked her why they were let out early and she
replied, “I don’t know.”
So I left it at that and went to the store for
some groceries, where I was informed by the
friendly cashier, who also works at Valley View
Elementary School, that there was another bomb
threat.
Usually, the threats are scribbled on bathroom
stalls, like the one found on January 15, 2013,
in the girl’s bathroom at the middle school. The
Bonners Ferry Herald reports, “Several notes
were written in the girl’s bathroom indicating a
threat, but no specific time was given.”
Another incident before that on October 23,
2012, at the high school, “The third time in as
many years,” said Superintendent, Dick Conley.
The Herald reports, “A janitor was told at about
8:10 a.m. that, ‘Bomb 3:30' was found on a
restroom wall, according to Boundary County
Sheriff’s Office press release.”
According to Conley, the message was even
misspelled. saying “Bom 3:30.”
But this time the threat was called in to 911
dispatch at 10:05 a.m. and the caller didn’t
specify which school was going to blow up.
Valley View Elementary wasn’t notified about
this until about noon.
Yet, I didn’t get a call until 2:30 in the
afternoon?
Yes, these threats have been idle, but who is to
say when the real thing may happen? That was a
four hour gap from when the call was placed into
911 until the evacuation.
As this information set in, my heart sank.
I thought, “What if this one was real? Anything
could have happened in that long four hours.”
I took my daughter out of school for the
remainder of the week.
The Bonners Ferry High School has tried many
different ways to get to the bottom of this.
After the third and fourth bomb threats November
5-6, the school decided to place monitors
outside both bathrooms and require that students
also have to sign in and out of class to use the
restroom.
Even then, another threat was reported on
November 12 and again on January 15.
The bomb threat in February gave some locals’
hearts a jump start.
On the same day that a bomb threat was turned
into police, Bob Graham, the Boundary County
Emergency Management Incident Commander, was
planning a controlled detonation of two vintage
hand grenades with a military bomb disposal unit
from Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane.
The grenades were found in Moyie Springs and
turned in to police by a woman who was clearing
out a shed on her property. The crew was just
setting up at the county landfill, ready to add
seven and a half pounds of their own explosives
to demolish the two grenades, when the call came
in February 19 about another bomb threat at the
high school.
Graham went in and helped check and clear the
school and was finished by 11:30 a.m. The
children returned to school and Graham returned
to the landfill to finish the demolition.
The blast was set off just before 1:00 p.m.
Locals from all over heard the blast, and were
fearful because most of them had heard about the
bomb threat at the school and they thought for
sure this time was it.
Graham expressed his concerns, “We’re a laughing
stock. So far, all the threats have been idle,
but what happens if someone decides to really
plant a bomb? It really worries me that we’ll
become complacent and miss the real one because
of all the idle threats.”
The scheduled blast was unannounced to the
public so it wouldn’t spread fear across the
town or leave locals to assume the government
was “up to something." One person said, “usually
EOD teams keep a low profile, the fear of
‘explosives’ of the population is usually worse
than the boom, lol, plus, if it is advertised,
half of us would show up to watch.”
Newsbf.com reported “while they typically don't
like to give away the location where such
detonations take place, the cat was out of the
bag even before the blast occurred; with Monday
a holiday, people were lined up within minutes
of the gate being closed, and word passed via
cellphone and social media that the bomb squad
was at the landfill, setting off a spate of
worried rumors.”
The seventh bomb threat on March 4 was found in
the men’s locker room at the high school. It was
one day after a suspect was suspended from
school, and after a school wide assembly had
taken place to address the issue.
Due to the threat occurring around lunch time,
teachers waited for the students to return so
they could be evacuated.
Then, what do you know, another bomb threat
strikes again on March 7, which led to the
schools’ decision to close the campus, meaning
students can no longer leave for lunch without
permission beginning March 11, 2013.
Still, the threats continued.
On March 18, the threat came in via 911 dispatch
at 10:05 a.m., threatening to “blow up the
school," and since no single school was
specifically targeted, all five schools in the
district were closed.
This was the day these ridiculous threats
affected all of the schools.
And again, another 911 dispatch call for a bomb
threat came in on March 19, just one day after
the last threat, AGAIN! But the Superintendent,
Dick Conley, felt this threat was non credible
due to the fact it was called in just like the
last one, plus, the ongoing investigation, plus,
all of its recent occurrences, therefore,
nothing was done about this one.
It wasn’t ignored, it was simply deemed “non
credible,” so no immediate action was required
at the time.
Well, I’m sure glad these threats are idle so
far. I’m also relieved to not have my daughter
in school this week, and I’m not yet sure when
she will be returning. It doesn’t help my
thoughts when I begin to think about the ‘Sandy
Hook’ incident. Although it is highly unlikely
to happen here, as parents, we will never be too
cautious.
Just think, if some strange, crazy newcomer came
waltzing in to our little town, knowing or even
not knowing any of the current events, and
decides to bomb a school.
I would sure hope and pray that we will still
immediately take action, evacuate as soon as
possible, and not just "assume" that the call
was from the same kid crying wolf all this time. |
Penena Veneroso
Bonners Ferry |
|
Questions or comments about this
letter?
Click here to e-mail! |
|
|
|
|
