Upset student's bomb talk clears school

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - For the second time in two weeks a deadly threat brought an Albuquerque middle school to a halt.

This time an eighth grader said he had a bomb and was going to blow up McKinley Middle School along with everyone in it.

The threat the 13-year-old threw out Friday morning got everyone's attention and evacuated the school on Comanche Road NE near Carlisle Boulevard for almost an hour.

The Albuquerque Police Department's bomb squad moved in to sweep the place.

Police said the student got into an argument with a classmate and told everyone he was going to detonate a bomb in his backpack.

The police search came up empty though.

This is the second death threat to cause problems at APS in the past two weeks.

In late September two sixth-graders at Tony Hillerman Middle School were caught planning to shoot up the school and then kill themselves.

Those boys were suspended for the school year at least and could face criminal charges.

The McKinley student has also been suspended.

Parents said it is better to be safe than sorry since you never know if when such threats are real.

"I didn't think it was going to happen but I'm glad it didn't," Shirley Galvez said. "They were very quick to get everybody out, and the kids were safe.

"They didn't take them back until they were safe inside."

The student who said he had a bomb was charged with making threats.

It will be up the juvenile authorities if they decide to prosecute.

An Albuquerque Public Schools spokesperson said the student could be expelled from McKinley for the rest of the school year.