Gilbert’s Mesquite Junior High School was evacuated after a bomb threat Thursday that turned out to be a prank.
Sgt. Andrew Duncan, Gilbert police spokesman, said a parent called the school at 8:30 a.m. to tell authorities her 13-year-old son was going to bring his yearbook to show them a possible bomb threat written into it.
Duncan said someone had written “Bomb here” and placed an X on a photo of the auditorium.
At the time, all of the seventh-graders were in the auditorium.
The boy said he didn’t know who wrote it, but an investigation by the school resource officer found a 13-year-old boy who did, Duncan said.
“He said that it was a prank,” Duncan said. “We don’t have any reason to believe there was a bomb in the school.”
Gilbert Public Schools spokeswoman Dianne Bowers said school was scheduled to get out at 10 a.m., but the students were released at 9:30 a.m.
Duncan said investigators questioned the boy and will determine whether to submit charges to the county attorney.
Bowers said the school district will seek charges.
