Crime & Safety

No Bomb Found After Threat at Harriton

Police searched the area and deemed it safe. The writer of the note has yet to be identified.

Lower Merion Police were called to  at 11 a.m. today in response to a bomb threat but discovered no suspicious packages, police reported Wednesday afternoon.

“A Harriton staff member found a note threatening that a device was in the School Library,” according to an email from Lower Merion Police Supt. Michael McGrath. “The Library was evacuated.  Police conducted a physical search of the library and no suspicious packages were found.”

The Lower Merion School District deferred comment to a letter that was sent home to parents this afternoon and was posted on the district’s website. The letter was signed by Harriton High School Principal Steven R. Kline and Superintendent of Schools Christopher McGinley.

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“Earlier today, a staff member found a note with a bomb threat message that had been slipped under the door of a faculty bathroom,” the letter states. “The note contained a timed deadline that had already passed and referred to a specific location in the building. The staff member notified administrators, who immediately contacted the Lower Merion Police Department. The building location referred to in the note was immediately cleared of students and staff.”

The letter states that police and fire officials arrived within minutes and searched the area cited in the note and adjacent spaces.

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“They determined that the facility was safe and there was no imminent threat to the school or students,” according to the letter. “The school day continued without additional interruption.”

School officials will continue to work with staff and with Lower Merion Police to identify the individual who wrote the note, the letter states.

“We are fiercely proud and protective of Harriton High School,” the letter says. “There are serious consequences, including expulsion and prosecution, for those who attempt to threaten or violate our school environment.”

The letter emphasizes improvements in security, both technological and human, that have been implemented in the school recently. If anyone has information that could help in Harriton’s investigation, they are encouraged to contact the Harriton office at (610) 658-3950.


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