SIMI VALLEY : Motive Unclear in Pipe Bomb Incident

Simi Valley police began checking leads Wednesday to determine who left a six-inch pipe bomb in the curbside mailbox of Sycamore Elementary School that forced school officials to evacuate 50 students.

Detective Gene Hostetler said a motive was unclear in the incident, in which a custodian discovered the six-inch length of plastic pipe with a half-burned fuse shortly after classes let out for the day Tuesday.

“It could have been someone who was upset with the school district or a teacher, or just someone who wanted to destroy a mailbox,” Hostetler said. “There are so many wackos out there.”

The homemade device was capable of causing significant damage, said Sheriff’s Detective Joe Braga, the bomb technician who defused it.

“It could have caused quite a bit of property damage and seriously injured or killed anyone in the vicinity,” said Braga, who examined the device at a sheriff’s facility at Camarillo Airport.

Only 50 of the elementary school’s 400 students were on campus at 3:10 p.m. Tuesday when a custodian found a plastic pipe bomb in the mailbox, Principal Robert Chall said.

The mailbox is located about 20 yards from the closest school building.

Students who remained at school for a tutoring class and a tryout for a talent show were evacuated to an outdoor field at the Ravenna Street campus until their parents arrived, Chall said.

He said the evacuation “went smoother than a normal drill.”