Lakewood Sheriff’s Station deputies responded to Lakewood High following a bomb threat called into the school on Thursday at 11:15 a.m., according to the Sheriff’s Department and Long Beach Unified School District.
The school followed district protocols and went on precautionary lockdown, said district spokesperson Eric Mitchell.
A detective unit, bomb dogs and drones arrived at the school and cleared the campus, said the Sheriff’s watch commander. One teacher reported observing at least thirty deputies and several dogs on campus. While the deputies had everything in motion to evacuate the campus, they cleared the entire school and found “business as usual,” the watch commander said. No evidence was found to suggest the threat was legitimate.
The school’s lockdown was lifted at 2 p.m. following the campus sweep, Mitchell said. All instructional programs and food services continued as usual, he said.
The lockdown was long enough that one Lakewood teacher said students used a yellow bucket to relieve themselves. (Each classroom is equipped with one for emergencies like this one, the teacher said, adding that after the lockdown, the hallway was full of used buckets.)
Though students got antsy as the hours crept on, the teacher said it was comforting that the school and district took the threat seriously and responded swiftly. “Everything ran really smooth,” the teacher said.