Bomb threat closes Molalla High School Thursday

A bomb threat found Tuesday on a Molalla High School bathroom stall led administrators to cancel Thursday classes.

A student found the note yesterday afternoon.

“We had the police come out and review the writing in the restroom,” Molalla River School District superintendent Wayne Kostur said.

Molalla Police Department officers inspected the school and did not find further evidence of an actual bomb. They are currently reviewing videos from a hall camera that shows everyone who entered and exited the bathroom where the threat was found, investigating officer Scott Douglas said.

“We don’t believe it to be a valid threat,” Douglas said.

Still, Kostur issued a letter today announcing the school closure on Thursday.

“The decision was based on what’s the safest thing to do for the kids,” MHS principal Kevin Ricker said. “If it’s a joke, it’s a very poor joke.”

The threat simply read “Bomb Beware” and was dated May 8 (Thursday), Douglas said.

Since the note included a specific future date, there was no evacuation at the time it was found, Ricker said.

Ricker and Kostur had no recollection of the high school being closed because of a bomb threat in past years.

A couple weeks ago, a similar bomb threat was found in the bathroom of Molalla River Middle School. The note specified both the date and time that the bomb would go off, so students were released at noon to avoid the 2:30 p.m. threat, Kostur said.

Students do not have school on Friday, due to a snow day that was not used. To make up for Thursday, MHS students will have school on May 23, a day they would have had off to make up for another unused snow day. All other schools in the district will have school as scheduled this Thursday and will still have the May 23 snow day off.

If anyone has information on the case, they are asked to contact Molalla Police Officer Scott Douglas at 503-829-8817.