Mamaroneck High School was part of a wave of bomb threats that hit schools nationwide on Monday, May 23, forcing local students to undergo a full evacuation. Graffiti in a bathroom on the Palmer Avenue side of the building, indicating that a bomb was set to go off inside the school building, was discovered in the morning, and the village of Mamaroneck Police Department received a report from the school at 11:17 a.m., according to Detective Sgt. Charles Lanza.
Lanza said students were safely evacuated from the building as a precautionary measure, and the village Police Department, as well as members of the Westchester County Bomb Squad, responded to the call, sweeping the building with bomb-sniffing dogs. Upon finding no threat on the premises, police determined that it was safe to re-enter the building. The entire call and response took an hour and a half to complete.
This occurred while schools nationwide and in the United Kingdom received similar bomb threats on Monday afternoon, many around 2 p.m. in the form of phone calls from an electronically disguised voice. The threats, which targeted elementary, middle and high schools in approximately 20 different states, forced schools to either evacuate or proceed with lockdown protocol.
In a released statement, the FBI said they are aware of the threats and will provide assistance to local authorities as needed. The bureau encouraged the public to remain vigilant and continue to report suspicious activity.
The most recent threat to a Mamaroneck school building isn’t the first of its kind. In February 2015, Hommocks Middle School received two bomb threats within a two-week span. The threats, which also materialized in the form of graffiti in a bathroom, forced officials to evacuate the building. After the space was deemed safe by the county Bomb Squad, students and faculty were allowed back into the building.
Following the 2015 incidents at Hommocks, Principal Seth Weissman spoke to the student population about the serious magnitude of the stunt. The school responded by enhancing safety precautions to ensure that unsupervised student access to restroom facilities would be minimal.
Lanza said the Police Department and Mamaroneck High School have launched a joint investigation to determine the source of the most recent bomb threats, but a suspect has not yet been found.
