A caller to the Grand Junction Police Department this morning who said there was a bomb at Grand Junction High School led to the evacuation of the school and dismissal of classes.
Jeff Kirtland, spokesman for the Mesa County Valley School District, said it was the first bomb threat he could recall in the last six years involving Grand Junction schools.
Because of the unusual nature of the threat — being phoned to the police department rather than the school — it was decided to send the 1,700 students home, said Kirtland.
When the caller phoned Grand Junction police at 11:15 a.m., the dispatcher was told that a bomb was in the school and would go off either in 10 minutes or at 1:10 p.m.
The caller then hung up, said Kirtland.
He said dispatchers immediately called the high school, and students were evacuated to several buildings in the neighborhood, including a church, a Salvation Army office and a community-arts center.
A search of the school by police and the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office didn’t find a bomb, said Kirtland.
But he said that because of the threat — including that a bomb would go off at 1:10 p.m. — school officials decided to release the students for the rest of the day at 1:30 p.m.
They were permitted to go back to the school to collect their belongings.
He said that while the students were waiting at the evacuation sites, they were permitted to call their parents.
“We essentially lost a half day of school,” said Kirtland. School normally would get out about 2:30 p.m., he added.
Grand Junction High, one of four high schools in the city, will be open for classes Wednesday.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
