Glendale School Bomb Packed Little Punch, Police Say

Police said Monday that a homemade bomb found hanging on a doorknob outside a classroom at Dunsmore Elementary School was a “very small device” with little power, probably not the work of a sophisticated criminal.

If it had been triggered accidentally, “there would not have been a major explosion,” said Sgt. Rick Young of the Glendale Police Department.

The bomb was found by Dunsmore teacher Merrily Prescott on Sunday afternoon when she came to her classroom to do some extra work, and “saw something strange on the door,” said Prescott. Police were called, and the bomb was safely detonated by a bomb squad.

It was the second such incident in a month. On March 31, an explosive device was found hanging on a door at nearby Rosemont Middle School and safely detonated. Police declined to say whether the two crimes may be linked.

Following Sunday’s discovery, all the schools in the Glendale Unified School District were checked for bombs.

In addition, Dunsmore Principal Gary Goold said PTA representatives tried to call all Dunsmore parents Sunday night to assure them that the school was now safe. Students flocked to school as usual Monday and classes got underway without incident.

“It’s probably safer now than it has been,” said one parent, Kerri Woolever, as she dropped off her two children. Woolever said she helped contact the other parents in her children’s classes. Most were concerned, but none said they planned to keep their children home, she said.

“You wouldn’t visualize anything like this here,” said Goold. “This is a school in a kind of community where if we even have graffiti, it’s maybe once a year.”

A reward of $5,000 is being offered by Glendale Crime-Stoppers, a nonprofit group, for information leading to an arrest. Crime-Stoppers can be reached at (818) 507-7867.