Object Not Pipe Bomb, After All

An object originally thought to be a bomb that was found in a high school locker room Friday turned out to be a harmless piece of metal pipe, police said Monday.

Sgt. Kevin Thomas, spokesman for Fountain Valley police, said he initially told reporters that the object was an explosive device based on information from members of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department bomb squad, who responded to the scare at Fountain Valley High School. After emerging from the locker room later Friday, bomb squad members said it was nothing more than an empty piece of pipe.

About 3 p.m. Friday, a teacher discovered a small fire in a locker in the boy’s gym locker room. While dousing the flames, he saw the pipe and notified school officials, who evacuated the school and notified Fountain Valley police and fire departments and the bomb squad.

The locker is not assigned to any student, and police and school officials have not found any witnesses, Thomas said. He added that attempts to lift fingerprints from the pipe were unsuccessful.

“It was a pretty elaborate hoax,” Thomas said. “There doesn’t seem to be anything more for us to go on at this time.”

But Chris Herzfeld, principal at Fountain Valley High, said school officials were continuing to investigate and would pursue legal and disciplinary action against anyone found responsible.