A hoax claim that bombs had been placed at West Hills High School Tuesday morning prompted a roughly three-hour lockdown at the campus while law enforcement personnel search the grounds and buildings.
An unidentified youth issued the threat about 9:15 a.m. via a 911 call, saying explosives stashed in four book bags would detonate at the Santee school 20 minutes later.
"It sounded like a (boy) saying that he was tired of being bullied and (that) he had put backpacks around the school that were going to explode, basically," sheriff's spokeswoman Jan Caldwell said. "If this is a hoax, it's a hoax. If not, we have our units here that will take care of it."
Deputies searched the Mast Boulevard campus, finding unattended backpacks in four areas, according to Caldwell. A bomb squad was called in to examine them, finding no dangerous devices or substances.
"We have to take each one of these calls seriously, and that's why we have so many units out here this morning," the spokeswoman said.
The lockdown was lifted in the early afternoon, though the school remained in a lower-level precautionary status known as "secure campus," according to Grossmont Union High School District officials.
