3 Bombs Found at High School; Class Canceled

Students at La Puente High School were evacuated Wednesday afternoon and school officials canceled classes for the rest of the week after two pipe bombs were found in a teacher’s car and a third bomb was discovered buried on campus.

Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies said that all three bombs were detonated at a nearby park by the department’s bomb squad. There were no injuries.

Mike Chavez, the school’s varsity football coach, discovered two six-inch pipe bombs wrapped in a plastic bag behind the front seat of his Ford Bronco shortly after arriving at school Wednesday morning, Sheriff’s Sgt. Ron Bailey said.

John Clonts, assistant superintendent of the Hacienda La Puente Unified School District, said he does not think any students were involved in the incident or that it was related to school activities.

There was some speculation on campus that the incident may have stemmed from a lovers’ triangle, but deputies played down those rumors.

Anonymous Call

Shortly after Chavez reported finding the bombs, about 100 students from classrooms next to the parking lot were moved to the school library. Teachers and administrators ordered students away from the area between classes and during lunch.

At 1 p.m., sheriff’s deputies received an anonymous call that another bomb was still on campus, Bailey said. The third explosive device was found a few minutes later, buried in the ground outside a classroom.

At that point, the high school’s 1,600 students were sent home.

“We were kind of shocked at first; we didn’t really know what to do,” said 14-year-old freshman Ernie Rossi. “But now everyone feels OK.”

On Tuesday, school officials received an anonymous call that a bomb had been placed on campus, but no explosives were found, Bailey said.

School officials decided Wednesday afternoon that “it was in the best interest of the students” not to hold classes the rest of the week, Clonts said.

Sheriff’s officials said they had talked to Chavez and that arson investigators will continue their probe of the incident.