UPDATE: MBPD sent out the following update at 3:49 p.m.:
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On December 7, 2015, at approximately 8:18a.m., the Manhattan Beach Police Department responded to Mira Costa High School regarding a bomb threat called into the Administration Office. Police units assisted school staff with evacuating classrooms, offices and buildings while additional law enforcement agencies arrived to provide support. Although the caller, who was described as male, did not provide specifics as to time and/or a reason for the threat, school officials canceled classes for the day. Parents/guardians were advised to pick up their student and the entire campus was cleared in less than 40 minutes. In addition, the vacant campus provided a more efficient means to conduct a detailed safety sweep. Police K-9 Teams from all over the South Bay responded to provide assistance for the extensive campus search. Upon thoroughly searching rooms, buildings, halls and outlying areas, the campus was cleared of any suspicious items. Investigators from the Manhattan Beach Police Department are actively working on this case for the purpose of identifying the suspect caller. The Manhattan Beach Police Department would like to thank the following agencies for providing assistance: Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Long Beach Police Department, Hawthorne Police Department, Beverly Hills Police Department, Los Angeles World Airport Police Department, Port of Los Angeles Police Department and the United States Coast Guard |
Original article:
Manhattan Beach Police announced at 9:30 a.m. that classes were cancelled at Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach due to a bomb threat. Parents were asked to pick up their children at Meadows Ramp and to bring identification.
“MBPD and MBUSD take all threats seriously and are actively investigating this incident,” said the alert.
Students leaving campus said that a message came over the school’s PA system about 8:20 a.m. informing them that the campus would be evacuated. Students were escorted to the baseball field, and school personnel asked students how they would be leaving. The students were then moved to the tennis courts before leaving campus.
Police were checking students’ identification before releasing them to their parents, causing delays.
Police erected a staging area in the Hope Chapel parking lot. It included a mobile command center and vehicles from multiple police agencies, including a bomb squad vehicle from police at LAX.
