Threat Keeps Bolsa Grande Kids at Home

More than half of the students at a Garden Grove high school stayed home Friday after a note threatening Columbine-type violence was found in a classroom, police said.

Officers from the Garden Grove Police Department combed the Bolsa Grande High School campus, searching through lockers and checking roof tops. By late Friday, police said they had spoken to several students about the incident but had made no arrests.

When a suspicious-looking bag was found at the school Thursday, officers alerted the Orange County Sheriff’s bomb squad, but deputies quickly determined that the bag contained only gym clothes, said Capt. Dave Abrecht.

A student found the note in a classroom desk just before winter break last month. The note, which apparently was written on a computer using a “strange font,” warned that the school would be in danger Jan. 7, Abrecht said.

Given last year’s deadly shooting rampage at Columbine High in Littleton, Colo., and a string of rumors of violence thereafter, school officials took the threat seriously. They sent letters to parents Wednesday, advising them of the threat but saying school would continue as scheduled.

Many parents called the school and the police department after learning about the note, and attendance was markedly down, said Garden Grove Sgt. Dennis Ellsworth.

“You want to take it seriously, but you also want to make it a normal day,” he said. “We don’t know if it’s a prank. . . .”

Some students who came to school speculated about the author of the note and resorted to grim humor. “A lot of people were saying: ‘I did it. I’m going to shoot you,’ ” said 14-year-old Ahmad Mansour.

Most of his friends stayed home from school Friday.

“There were nine people in my math and history class today,” down from the usual 30 or so, Ahmad said.

His mother, Rana, 38, said she did not fear for her son’s safety. “God would protect him and nothing would happen.”

Ronald Forsyth, director of student services at the Garden Grove Unified School District, said the school encouraged students to attend Friday but some parents chose to keep their children at home.

“With what happened at Columbine, you have to be proactive and not wait for something [to happen],” Forsyth said. “Today, it’s probably the safest school in California.”

Shortly after lunch break Friday, the campus seemed to be the quietest school in California. Traffic was slow coming in and out of the guarded gates, and few students could be seen on campus.

Diem Nguyen, 17, was kept home most of the day because of her father’s concerns. Her parents allowed her only a brief visit to drop off English homework.

“I wasn’t afraid; the teachers said it was going to be all right,” Nguyen said. “My father said I should stay home. . . . He was afraid of a bomb, afraid for my safety.”

Senior Truc Nhan, 17, said her parents were also concerned but left the choice to her.

“I wanted to go to school,” Nhan said, but she found that many students were absent and hallways had been quiet most of the day.

Will Montgomery, also a senior, said students were edgy during most of the day.

“They were looking out of the windows, checking who was out there,” he said. “I thought it was a joke, kids trying to play around.”

Montgomery said he had no choice about coming to school. A basketball player, he had a game against another Garden Grove school Friday night. No school, no game.

About 10 officers were posted at the school until the game’s final buzzer.

Police said they will continue their investigation.