Bomb threat in Belmont

Early Wednesday afternoon another student brought the comments to the attention of a Belmont police officer assigned to the school and the boy was immediately arrested and received felony charges for making terrorist threats.

Police also learned that the boy allegedly talked with another student about "what type of weapon you would use to take over a school."

The investigation has so far turned up nothing unusual. A bomb squad found nothing in the friend's house, and a search of the boy's home in Belmont only turned up a non-functioning World War II hand grenade and ordinary fireworks, which are illegal in most cities in the county including Belmont.

The police department begun an investigation yesterday and officials said it is important to respond quickly to such threats.

"We take threats like that seriously in light of what happened at De Anza and Columbine. We can't ignore stuff like this," said Sgt. Patrick Halleran of the Belmont Police Department. "Our initial response to this was to make sure everyone was safe and if we had a problem, handle it. And we've reached the point where we can start an investigation."

Halleran said something of this magnitude "doesn't happen every day" in Belmont. And school officials say this is the first time they know of an incident like this occurring at the school, but they believe the school and its students are safe.

"There's absolutely no indication that the school is threatened. I think the young person ran his mouth and made some very inappropriate threats, but as a school we can't be careful enough," said Principal Andrea Jenoff.

Described by students and administrators as "quiet" and "academic" now, the 1600-student school nestled beside green hills has a turbulent past. During the 1960s, the formally all-white middle-class school encountered racial clashes during desegregation.

More recently, the 1995 movie "Dangerous Minds" portrayed Carlmont as a tough place filled with uncouth inner-city kids, a reputation the students said they are still trying to change.

Some say the recent incident will make it hard for the school to change its image at a time when it's just beginning to gain the respect of the community.

"I think it kind of damages the Carlmont name," said one 17-year-old senior. "People look down on Carlmont -- this really hurts us and the community."

Most students said that although the incident was unusual, they do not think the incident was very serious or that the student really meant anything by his threats. Students who know the boy said he is loud in class and likes to joke around a lot -- but is also the subject of many jokes. He would never carry out the threats, they said.

"I think he said it spur of the moment. He didn't have any possessions or anything," said one 14-year-old freshman who knows the boy. "But it sort of sends a message to people not to mess around."

And parents were surprised to hear about it for the first time yesterday afternoon. One parent said that she isn't surprised that a student would make such threats because teenagers hear about violence all the time.

"Now it's the thing to do. It's unfortunate because you don't know if they are going to follow through or not," Rose Bertan of Redwood City said.