At around 8:50 a.m. on Sept. 19, Principal David Sondheim’s voice rang on the loudspeaker alerting classrooms to lockdown. Thirty minutes later a text message and email were sent notifying students and staff that the school was being evacuated due to a bomb threat.
Central Marin Police worked with the Marin County Sheriff, California Highway Patrol, Mill Valley Police, Alameda County Sheriff, Sonoma County Sheriff and Berkeley Police to execute a “comprehensive sweep” of the entire school in which no bomb was found, according to an email sent by Sondheim in the afternoon of the lockdown. Lockdown procedures were created in cooperation with local police and fire officials, the email stated.
During the lockdown, classrooms waited as police came to check each student’s bag and then escort them to the field. Other students’ backpacks, lunch boxes and water bottles were searched after the class was on the football field.
Students had been given little information, but due to text messages and Snapchat stories, many rumors and speculations of the situation spread.
All students were formally released from the football field at 12:30 p.m. after students began to unofficially exit the campus by jumping over the fences surrounding the field. After law enforcement officials determined there was no bomb on campus, staff was able to enter the buildings, although the school remained closed for students to retrieve bikes, go inside a classroom, or into a locker room until 5 p.m., according to an email Sondheim sent.
Updated 9/20/17.
Additional reporting by Bark staff.
