NEWBURY PARK : School Evacuated After Bomb Found

A sophisticated explosive device that forced the evacuation of 1,400 students at Newbury Park High School was powerful enough to kill and maim numerous students if it had detonated, a sheriff’s bomb expert said Thursday.

The bomb--in a green box with wires and a battery attached to it--was discovered at the end of the lunch hour Wednesday on an overhang above a busy stairwell, said Ventura County Sheriff’s Detective Joe Braga.

Administrators immediately ordered students to leave a nearby second-floor English classroom and within minutes ordered a campuswide evacuation, said Principal Charles Eklund.

“Sometimes we wonder why we practice these evacuations, but yesterday was proof of how important it is,” Eklund said.

Braga, who inspected the explosive at the sheriff’s bomb facility in Camarillo, said the bomb was a “highly sophisticated device” that combined a pipe bomb with a petroleum-based incendiary substance.

“If it had detonated, it could easily have killed numerous people and maimed many more,” Braga said.

He asked that anyone with information about the device contact him at 494-8223. The high school has offered a $250 reward, added to a reward of up to $1,000 offered by the Thousand Oaks Crime Stoppers, for information leading to an arrest. Crime Stoppers can be reached at 494-TALK or 656-1500.

Sheriff’s deputies also recovered what they believe are bomb components in an unrelated case.

During a routine traffic stop on Hampshire Road in Thousand Oaks on Wednesday night, deputies discovered a concealed handgun and a number of separate ingredients that could be used for explosives in the cab of a pickup truck driven by Tracy Barker of Thousand Oaks, said Senior Deputy Paul Higgason.

Among the items seized were rocket engine components, carbon dioxide canisters and a second granular powder believed to be a low-grade explosive, Braga said.

Barker, 31, was arrested on suspicion of possessing a concealed weapon and explosives and accepting stolen property. He is scheduled to be arraigned Oct. 8.