Woodward Middle School hit by more bomb threats

Two bomb threats were discovered this week at Woodward Middle School, ultimately prompting an evacuation of students and staff Thursday afternoon.

The first threat was found at approximately 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 18. A student noticed writing underneath a desk after dropping a pencil.

The message was written on the desk in pencil and the student was "adamant" that it was not there before that day, according to police reports.

The second message was discovered sometime before 1 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 20, underneath a different desk in a different classroom.

The second message was written in pencil on a 1-inch-by-1-inch piece of paper and taped underneath the desk. It said, "Bombs will go off."

Officers noticed that a portion of the note could read 1:10 p.m., however, since the note was not clearly written, the time was determined to be "subjective" by detectives, according to police reports.

Students and staff were evacuated after the second note was found.

Woodward Principal Mike Florian wrote an email to parents Thursday afternoon briefing them on the incident.

"This afternoon we received a bomb threat at Woodward," he wrote. "We evacuated our students and staff as a precaution."

While students waited outside, Florian and custodian Jerry Dinel searched each classroom with police officers. When it appeared that no threat was posed, students were allowed back into their classrooms.

Woodward staff gave police evidence for their investigation. Florian further asked parents and his school community for help.

"If any students have information regarding the student who wrote the threat, they are expected to come forward immediately," Florian wrote in his email.

Bainbridge Police Lt. Chris Jensen said that it is not known how long the messages were left underneath the desks before they were found, and that school officials did the right thing when evacuating students.

The threats are the first of their kind during this school year, but are the fifth and sixth bomb threats for the calendar year.

Woodward Middle School received bomb threats on Feb. 14, March 16 and March 26. Another threat was found the previous year on Jan. 18, 2011.

Each previous threat was written on a bathroom stall wall with the word "bomb" followed by a time.

Contact Bainbridge Island Review Staff Writer Richard D. Oxley at roxley@bainbridgereview.com or (206) 842-6613.

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