San Clemente High Gets to Test Their Emergency Plan on the First Day of School

When I first heard there was a bomb threat at San Clemente High I assumed it was a first-day-of-school student prank.  Not so:

San Clemente High’s first day of classes was interrupted Wednesday morning after authorities at Camp Pendleton found a note from a Navy corpsman claiming he had placed an “incendiary device” at the campus, authorities said.

By 2 p.m., the Navy corpsman, identified as Daniel Morgan, 22, had turned himself in to authorities at a hospital in Camp Pendleton, said Capt. Marc Stone with the Orange County Fire Authority.

A lockdown and evacuation of classrooms at the high school ended Wednesday afternoon with more than 3,000 students being sent home and a sweep of the campus turning up no bomb, the Sheriff’s Department reported.

“We just finished the bomb sweep; we did not find anything suspicious,” said Sheriff’s Lt. Paul D’Auria, chief of police services in San Clemente. “We have the suspect and his vehicle.”

Asked if the corpsman was found to be in possession of any bomb material, D’Auria said. “Not at this point.”

Military officials discovered the note during a search of their barracks after Morgan didn’t turn up for work on Wednesday following a four-day leave for the holiday weekend, said Eric Flanagan, a spokesman for the 1st Marine Expedition Force.

Camp Pendleton officials at 8:45 a.m. notified the Sheriff’s Department of the note, which indicated that a device had been placed at the campus.

The school went on a lockdown soon after, with students being taken to the football field, where they sat in scorching heat for more than an hour, and later to the gym.

It was 100 degrees at my house and probably well into the 90's in San Clemente. Sitting out in the sun for over an hour couldn't have been much fun. I heard they moved the kids into the gym, but when the gym temperature hit 88 they finally sent everybody home. So much for the first day of school.

Try again tomorrow.