Students were kept out of the building until 2 p.m.
By: Nick D’Amore
Students and staff were evacuated from the Upper Elementary School at 10 a.m. Wednesday when a false bomb threat was found in a student’s locker.
UES students and staff walked to nearby Crossroads School and remained there until about 2 p.m. They were dismissed for the day shortly after.
Police spokesman Detective Jim Ryan said two sixth-grade girls found the written note in one of their lockers at 8:50 a.m. that said there would be a "bomb blast at 1 p.m."
The student turned the note over to the school resource officer, Patrol Officer Scott Williams, who then contacted the Police Department.
Officer Ryan said while no student in particular is a suspect at this time, "we have not ruled anyone in or out."
The school, along with the police, determined that they would evacuate the school.
Bomb-sniffing dogs came in from the State Police, and the Monmouth County and Ocean County sheriffs’ departments, as well as a bomb technician from the State Police.
Officer Ryan said UES custodial staff and the police conducted exterior and interior searches of the building before the dogs were sent in.
Both searches came up negative.
At Crossroads, detectives were interviewing students for information about the threat.
UES students stayed in the Crossroads gymnasium and auditorium until the building was determined to be safe at 1:15 p.m., said Officer Ryan.
UES has 1,200 students and about 100 staff members, said Maribeth Edmunds, administrative assistant to the central office.
Several parents had come to pick up their children as news of the bomb threat spread.
Ms. Edmunds said the school and police determined an evacuation was necessary because the note was "time specific."
Ms. Edmunds said UES principal Joanne Kerekes would be sending a letter home with her students to inform parents of the incident.
"As far as I know, parents are not being called," said Ms. Edmunds.
Lt. Ray Hayducka said the school followed procedure under the Incident Command System, a management system set up between the Police Department and the schools throughout the district to deal with a crisis.
"As soon as a threat comes, the system is activated," he said, adding that had trained the schools in the procedure.
He said the incident commander was Ms. Kerekes and that she conferred with the police and staff about evacuating the building.
"We already had the logistics set up," said Lt. Hayducka about walking the students to Crossroads, where he said a command post was in place.