THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 15, 1995 TAG: 9511150213
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE MATHER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Short : 45 lines
A police bomb squad on Tuesday destroyed a suspicious device found in a Bayside High School bathroom about 90 minutes after the school was evacuated.
More than 1,500 students poured onto the school's front lawn about 1 p.m. Later, most boarded buses for home an hour earlier than usual. Teachers and staff members also left for the day after all students were off school grounds.
A police officer in a blast-proof suit moved the device from the rest-room to an area inside the school where a remote-controlled robot named Max was able to pick it up and take it outside.
Behind the school, the bomb squad destroyed the device with a shotgun shell. No one was hurt.
Police declined to describe the device but said it appeared authentic enough to be taken seriously. As of late Tuesday, police said they weren't sure if what they found was an elaborate hoax or an actual explosive, althoughthey were leaning toward hoax.
Investigators gathered the pieces and said the remnants would be sent to a crime lab for analysis. They could not say when the results would be available.
Police spokesman Mike Carey said a janitor, cleaning a boys' restroom near the rear of the building, found what looked like a bomb behind a toilet shortly after noon.
The first police officers to arrive at the school called for the bomb squad. School administrators ordered the evacuation.
Carey said no threats were phoned to the school or police before the device was found. And no one claimed responsibility for planting it, Carey said.
The bomb-squad robot, equipped with a video camera that feeds a picture to a monitor in a van, picked up the device and wheeled it outside and along the school's asphalt running track. Then it was destroyed with a muffled bang.
Carey said there are no suspects. Police ask anyone with information to call 427-0000.
KEYWORDS: BOMB VIRGINIA BEACH SCHOOL by CNB