The device was found by a teacher, who alerted school officials, police said . All 1,500 students, faculty and staff were ordered out of the building.
Montgomery High School in a file photo. MONTGOMERY — Two Montgomery High School students are being questioned by police this afternoon following a bomb scare that forced 1,500 students and staff to evacuate the building yesterday afternoon.
The teens, age 17 and 18, are believed to have planted the suspicious device that caused the scare in a hallway, where it was discovered by a teacher, police said. Fearing copycats, police are not describing the object, but said it stood out in the school setting.
"It was out of the ordinary," Lt. Jim Curry said today. "It's a school atmosphere, so it was not anything you'd expect in a school environment. It wasn't a backpack, or anything like that, that you would find in a school."
No charges have been filed against the students, who this afternoon are at police headquarters being interviewed, Curry said. The Somerset County Prosecutor's Office will be consulted on any charges for the students, one of whom is considered an adult and the other a juvenile.
The suspicious device was discovered around 1:20 p.m. yesterday, leading school officials to order everyone out of the building. Students were sent home 30 minutes later, police said.
The State Police bomb squad was called out and determined the device was not a threat, according to police. The school building reopened at 4 p.m.
School officials took all the proper precautions during the incident, police said. No bomb threat was ever communicated, and it was the suspicious nature of the device that led school officials to order an evacuation.
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