If it was attention someone was after by placing a suspicious package in front of one of Auburn High School’s administrative buildings Wednesday morning, they were successful in getting it.
“They now have our complete attention,” said Terry Jenkins, superintendent of Auburn City Schools.
They also have the attention of Auburn’s Police Division.
While no explosive devices were discovered, Jenkins said the system will always err on the side of caution and take the necessary steps to ensure the safety of children.
At this point, the incident looks like a prank done in poor taste, but Jenkins wants whomever is responsible to understand that it’s no laughing matter.
Tommy Dawson, assistant chief with the Auburn Police Division, agrees.
“This is something we take very seriously,” Dawson said.
Someone who commits an offense like planting a fake bomb could be charged with terroristic threatening, a Class C felony carrying a penalty of no greater than a 10 year sentence but no less than a one year jail term and a $15,000 fine.
“We want who ever did this to understand that they violated the law and that there are consequences associated with that,” Jenkins said. “If this is a prank, then it’s definitely one that crossed the line.”
However, the handling of Wednesday morning’s suspicious package incident is one Jenkins commends the AHS staff on.
“All of our schools have a Safety Plan in place,” Jenkins said.
Auburn High School has a Crisis Communication System in place that allows school officials to notify parents of any situation that arises on campus within about a 15-minute time window.
According to Jenkins a teacher, who arrived on campus Wednesday at about 6:25 a.m., notified the Auburn police after discovering a brown box that was about 2-feet high in front of the school’s main administrative office.
When an officer arrived on the scene and looked down into the box he saw a clock, batteries, wiring and cell phone attached.
“It looked like it had all the components except an explosive device attached to it,” said Jenkins.
Alabama Bureau of Investigation members were then called as students were kept out of the buildings and Auburn Police Division officers conducted a thorough room-to-room search of the school for any other items or persons that may have been out of place.
After extensive X-rays and inspection of the suspicious device were conducted by authorities, it was determined no explosive components were present, but that’s only where the investigation begins, according to Jenkins.
“We’ll hopefully be able to work with law enforcement in pursuing all the serial numbers from all the devices involved to see where they were bought,” Jenkins said.
Footage from the school’s various parking lots will also be turned over to authorities for review.
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