Although a “dummy” hand grenade found the morning of Dec. 12 in Buena Vista Park was considered not to be a threat by police, its proximity to Santa Maria High School across the street brings into question emergency evacuation procedures in light of the recent shooting at a Connecticut elementary school.
“Whether or not it was a live grenade or not, we take the utmost care with any threat to citizens,” Santa Maria Police Sgt. Chris Nartatez said.
Santa Maria Joint Union High School District Assistant Superintendent Tracy Marsh received a call from the high school, which is mandated by policy to inform the district in cases of emergency.
“[Santa Maria High School] Principal Joe Domingues called me immediately,” Marsh said. “I can’t say enough about the fine job he and his staff did.
“We told him to use his call system to let parents know what was going on. He had already begun the lockdown at that point,” he continued.
Marsh believes both the district’s and the high school’s procedures were appropriate for the situation and that everyone involved responded quickly and responsibly.
“After the incident, the district and the school review the procedure to make sure there isn’t anything we could have done better,” he said. “Unfortunately, these things happen, but this time everything went smoothly, extremely smoothly.”
According to police and other reports, city maintenance workers found the grenade just after 11 a.m. in the park that borders Morrison Avenue across the street from Santa Maria High School on the south, Pine Street and residences on the north, Good Samaritan Shelter on the west, and a Camp Fire Cabin located on the east corner.
Park personnel called the police and fire department, which were on scene and cordoned off the area. Both departments then guarded the area while awaiting the arrival of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Bomb Squad, which is trained to deal with such emergencies.
“They’re the experts in determining which incidents are hazards and dangers,” Nartatez said.
Police officials stated that the school, which was in session, and the shelter, which had people inside, were contacted soon thereafter and made aware of the potential danger.
Officials also stated that the northwest portion of the high school was evacuated and the entire school was put into lockdown during the incident; however, by 1:30 p.m., classes at the school had resumed their regular schedule. Students stated the lockdown procedure was to lock the doors of each classroom while turning off lights and waiting for an all-clear sign. Students in the area immediately across from the grenade were taken to the cafeteria for the lockdown.
Good Samaritan Shelter spokesperson Kirsten Cahoon confirmed the shelter was contacted immediately and clients were told to stay out of the park until police secured the area.
Bomb squad personnel inspected the intact grenade, which was located under some debris at the foot of a tree, and determined there was no danger, that the grenade was inert and had a hole at its base—although it still had a pin and handle attached.
“This really shows how this is not just a school problem, but a community problem. I wondered how theaters, malls, colleges as well as elementary and high schools are prepared for these types of problems, not just the high school,” Marsh said.
Police officials said that this is still being treated as an ongoing investigation and encouraged anyone with information to come forward to aid police.
This article appears in Dec 20-27, 2012.