KFC Vouchers Prompt Willows High School Evacuation, Bomb Squad Call
WILLOWS (CBS13) — A Glenn County high school was evacuated on Monday and the bomb squad was called in after a suspicious package was sent to the campus.
The discovery comes on the heels of multiple threats made against school leaders and their children following the firing of two teachers.
What started last week as a student-led protests escalated and turned ugly with social-media threats. When the suspicious package showed up on Monday, the school wasn't taking any chances.
No students were in sight at Willows High after an emergency dismissal. Willows Police officers say the package seemed suspicious and the contents were packaged in a round cylinder.
"It looked suspicious when they did the x-ray," said Sgt. Troy McIntrye.
Tensions were already high in the small Glenn County town of 6,000 people. Last Thursday, dozens of students jammed a hallway, staging a sit-in in protest of two popular teachers losing their jobs.
"Things sort of blew up on social media after the board meeting," said Principal Holly McLaughlin.
Administrators say the principal, school board members and their children were threatened on social media.
""It kinda makes you nervous and makes you not wanna go to school at all," said Willows High junior Ashlynn Geiger, who is the daughter of a school board member.
She says the since-deleted Tweets made her feel unsafe going to school.
"They said we better watch our backs we were gonna kinda get raped; it was just along those lines," she said.
Against that backdrop, the principal says she played it safe on Monday, calling in the police.
It turned out to be a package with vouchers from fast-food restaurant KFC—a false alarm, apparently unrelated to the threats.
Police say on a normal day, school staff probably would have opened the package without raising an eyebrow. The principal says Willows High will be open as usual on Tuesday.
The district superintendent says one student is under investigation for threats on social media.
