After the appearance of a suspicious package in the Chico High School library, school officials decided to declare Code Red on Nov. 4. Students followed protocol and remained in classrooms for 30-45 minutes.  Upon discovering the package, officials considered the possibility of a bomb threat and contacted local forces immediately.

    “We acted on the side of caution. We got in contact with the school officials and called explosive experts. The situation was handled very well. The officers responded very well. We were quick in evacuating. Then, there was a secondary search and an x-ray,” said Chico police Sgt. Linda Dye.

The x-ray proved the package to be nothing more than a library book.

    “It was just an accident and misidentification. This particular threat was not very serious at all. There was no intent to cause fear,” said Dye.

The lack of danger was reflected in the student’s reactions.  

    “I thought [the bomb threat] was interesting and just a change of the pace in the day,” said Chico High junior Andrew Hahn.

At PV administration reacted to ensure safety.

    “We took the information given to us; we were basically on standby. We assembled as an administrative group. At 6:30 the following morning, we walked the campus at HCico and PV and made sure our campus was secure. In order to have students on our campus the following day, we did not our Code Red procedures, lockdown procedures and basically followed protocol,” said assistant principal Renee Spaggiari.

In fact, gun/bomb threats are not uncommon in Chico.

    “We get [threats] all the time. In the last year, we had close to 28 threats. It is very rare to see real danger. At times, it’ll be something homemade. But we hear of this all the time,” said Dye.

After evacuation, rumors began to surface at PV regarding a supposed gun threat the next day.

    "Midway through the day, there was an onslaught of calls coming to the front office, via parents who had received text messages from students saying school was being released early,” said Spaggiari.

Students expressed their fear as well.

    “[I was] a bit scared because I always the take bus by there,” said junior Dmitriy Galkin.

The reactions of students confirmed the rumors’ potency.

    “The rumor had contributed to the whole situation in avery negative way. We spent more time dispelling rumors and putting people’s minds at ease,” said Spaggiari.

However, safety is always a priority.

“To ensure school safety, be aware of what is going on,” said Chico police Sgt. Linda Dye.