Bomb scare forces campus evacuation
Jessica C. Millman
Issue date: 11/2/01 Section: News
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No one was injured during the evacuation, which lasted more than an hour. Authorities did not find any evidence of a bomb.
A campuswide evacuation was put into effect by BC President Dr. Sandra Serrano. Students and faculty were told to go to the soccer field, but many also gathered in the Free Speech area before being told to move to the parking lot near the Fine Arts building.
Bakersfield Police Department Officer John Jamison is the officer assigned to the BC campus.
"The police department policy is to let the administration make the call (about evacuation)," he said.
BPD Detective Mary DeGeare said that the threat was made at approximately 8:40 a.m. and that the caller said that the bomb was scheduled to go off at 9 a.m.
Many students were told to leave the buildings by staff.
Student Cody Slayton was in the Campus Center.
"We had to get out of buildings," he said. "Some crazy lady told me to leave."
Campus police Sgt. Jess Soto said that classified staff and faculty were the ones who looked for a bomb in the buildings.
"We make a sweep of the whole campus, and look for suspicious items," he said.
Soto said that no members of the Bakersfield Police Department were called. He said that there is a procedure when a bomb threat occurs.