San Marcos High School has lifted a temporary lockdown and canceled classes for the rest of the day after a bomb threat was phoned into the school as students arrived to class Friday morning, according to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.
Officers and deputies with the Sheriff’s Department, CSUSM University Police Department and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives responded to a report of a potential bomb threat at 8:06 a.m. on Friday and placed the school on lockdown a few minutes later.
Students were immediately told to shelter in place, and law enforcement swept the campus for any suspicious devices or materials related to the threat, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
San Marcos Unified School District officials have since announced that no threats were discovered on campus after a thorough search. The Sheriff’s Department said around 11 a.m. that parents, relatives and guardians of students at San Marcos High School could pick up their children at the campus.
“Deputies will be conducting extra patrols of the school throughout the day,” a sheriff’s social media post said. “Thank you for your patience and cooperation during this incident.”
Dozens of parents waited anxiously outside the school during the three hours of the lockdown, trying to get information from their children. Parent Melinda Staab said she was terrified when she first received an alert from the district about the lockdown, and that she immediately called her daughter, a junior at San Marcos High, who was sheltering in place in her classroom.
“She answered the phone whispering,” Staab said. “The kids were frightened.”
At around 11 a.m., the district informed families that no threats had been discovered on campus. Classes were canceled for the remainder of the day, because many students still arriving to school that morning when the lockdown occurred were unable to access campus.
“We take all threats seriously and are grateful for the quick response of our law enforcement partners who worked alongside us to keep our campus, students and staff safe,” said Amy Ventetuolo, a spokesperson with the San Marcos Unified School District.
One sophomore described being in their jazz band class when the lockdown started, and said students crowded into the band room to hide. For a while, they worried that there was a shooter at the school.
“It was really scary. Just because there are so many shootings lately, we thought that could be happening. A lot of people were crying, including me,” the student said.
“I’m really glad everyone got out safely,” another sophomore said.
The threat came just hours before the Knights’ homecoming game tonight against Mt. Carmel. On Saturday, the school is also holding its homecoming dance, A Knight at the Carnival. Ventetuolo confirmed that both events will continue as planned despite the temporary lockdown.
Law enforcement investigated a separate threat against another San Marcos school just days prior.
On Oct. 2, the San Marcos Unified School District informed families of a shooting threat made on social media over the weekend against San Marcos Elementary, although the school did not go into lockdown. The department said the threat was determined not to be credible, and that the social media posts had been traced back to a San Marcos home.
Ventetuolo said the shooting threat and bomb threat are not believed to be connected at this time, but that investigations are ongoing.
Laura Place contributed to this report.
This story was updated multiple times on Friday as more information was gathered. The school district confirmed that the homecoming game and dance will continue as planned.
