Bomb Threat Lockdown to Be Lifted at 1 P.M.

Originally posted at 12:57 p.m. March 6, 2014.

Deputies and bomb-sniffing dogs have made a thorough search of San Clemente High and found nothing after Orange County Sheriff's officials learned of a bomb threat there this morning.

Lt. Jeff Hallock said uniformed officers were to remain on campus until the end of the school day at 2:45 p.m. and students would return to a modified class schedule.

Deputies were monitoring an increasingly popular social media app called Yik Yak, which allows users to post anonymously, not even requiring email accounts to sign in, in regards to another concern when they discovered the bomb threat.

"It was enough to cause concern," Hallock said. "It indicated there may be a bomb on campus. We acted accordingly."

Students were "sheltered" in their classrooms, while deputies and dogs conducted their search. Traffic continued as normal along Avenida Pico and media and parents -- though they were asked not to come to the school, some did -- were allowed to remain on the sidewalks. 

Meanwhile, students took to their phones to communicate with their parents and social media to communicate with each other.

"I've been in tutorial for ever," wrote one student.

Yik Yak has come under fire as an easy way to make threats and slander. Last month, a student in Alabama was arrested for making threats on Yik Yak.

According to Yik Yak's own blog, "Anonymity is powerful, for better or for worse. People ask us all the time why we felt the need to make Yik Yak anonymous, and the answer is quite simple. It gives people a blank slate to work from, effectively removing all preconceptions about them."

Hallock said a rumor was going around that a student had turned himself in as the one who posted the threat. But that wasn't true.