E-Mail Sheds Light On TCA Bomb Scare Timeline
An email sent out to parents of the Classical Academy Thursday evening is raising serious questions about how the discovery of two potentially dangerous devices was handled by school staffers.
The message sent out to parents contained some surprising revelations about the actual time line of events.
Police and fire crews descended on the school Thursday morning, moving kids to safer ground at one point, and calling in the city’s bomb squad to inspect and eventually dismantle the devices.
Later in the day, a high school student at the academy was arrested and charged with possessing an incendiary device and interfering with school staff.
Here is the message that was sent out to parents, which includes new details about when the devices were discovered, and how the investigation proceeded.
“Two suspicious objects were found Monday afternoon?two hours apart. They were carefully inspected, isolated and not viewed as an immediate threat. The entire facility was then thoroughly searched and deemed safe. Efforts immediately focused on finding the individuals responsible. By late Monday security tapes identified several suspects to interview. Our focus was to find the individual that was a potential threat to the community. Tuesday was a snow day and further investigation was delayed until Wednesday morning. First thing Wednesday morning we identified a suspect and moved forward. Administration contacted District-20 throughout the day. It was determined that District-20 Security would review the suspicious objects early Thursday morning. Upon evaluation, the Colorado Springs Police Department decided to handle the suspicious packages as potentially explosive and took control of the situation. The affected area was cordoned off and five modular buildings evacuated. Both x-ray and chemical analysis proved the packages to be non-explosive. Today the Colorado Springs Police Department interviewed and subsequently arrested a person of interest.”
According to a report by the Colorado Springs Gazette, the head of security for District 20, Larry Borland, is expressing disappointment that kids were not evacuated immediately on Monday when the devices were initially discovered.
NewsChannel 13 will provide follow-up coverage on Friday as we learn more about the school’s response, including the decision to delay Police involvement until Thursday morning.
