Bathroom bomb threat leads to police sweep, confusion for families
A message reading “I’m finna bomb TS school on Friday, FR” was found written on a bathroom wall at American Canyon High School on Wednesday afternoon.
Shortly before 6 p.m. on Wednesday, the Napa Valley Unified School District notified parents and faculty of the incident in an email obtained by the Current. The message, signed by Student Services Director Rupi Bhatti, stated that “Although threats like this are often deemed not credible, the school district and law enforcement personnel are taking this threat, like every threat, very seriously.” Bhatti added that “at this time, our normal school day will proceed tomorrow.”
However, when students arrived at school Thursday morning around 8 a.m., they were told to wait outside the school gates. Hundreds of students idled in front of the school, waiting to be let in for first period, which started at 8:30 a.m. As they waited, a sweep of the school was conducted by bomb-sniffing K-9s and officers from the Napa County Sheriff’s Office Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Team, Napa County Sheriff’s Department, Solano County Sheriff’s Department and American Canyon Police Department.
ACHS parent Christina Kalyuzhnaya said that the district had not notified parents there would be a police and K9 sweep at the school. Historically, she said, the district “shares things after the fact.”
When Thursday morning’s sweep was completed, students were let in in time for first period. Classes for the rest of the day continued as normal. Shortly after 11 a.m., American Canyon Police Department sent out a message stating that they “will continue to actively investigate this incident,” which will include “an increased law enforcement presence on campus.”
According to Brielle Sacatani, a junior at American Canyon High School, students at the school were largely unfazed. “No one’s taking it seriously other than staff,” Sacatani said. The message was allegedly discovered in a women’s bathroom in the school’s D building.
On social media, a number of parents wrote that they were keeping their kids home from school Thursday and possibly Friday.
Several parents expressed frustration that the Napa Valley Unified School District failed to notify families of the extensive police activity at the school on Thursday. Parents were also concerned that representatives did not share a specific plan for class schedules or further police activity on campus the rest of Thursday and Friday outside of stating they will be there.
The district stated in an email update just before 1 p.m. today that officers will continue “to provide increased presence on campus throughout the end of this week.” The same message was sent to reporters as a response to inquiries about the bomb threat.
Lieutenant Nicol Dudley from the American Canyon Police Department told the Current that the sweep was “coordinated with NVUSD,” but did not elaborate on future actions at the campus, instead noting that the department “will not be releasing further information at this time for the integrity of our investigation.”
