'Suspicious Package' Results in Lockdown of Ridgemoor

Parents wait outside the back gate of Ridgemoor Elementary School, waiting for their children to be released to them.

Ridgemoor Elementary School was on lockdown for more than two hours today after a Sheriff's Department bomb squad was called following delivery of a suspicious package to the school.

According to a news release from Meniffee Police Department, officers responded to a call from school officials after an unknown male dropped off a United States Postal Service package at the front office of the school about 11 a.m. The subject was not wearing a postal uniform and the package only had the pre-printed markings from the postal service. The package was sealed and the contents were unknown.

Betti Cadmus, spokesperson for the Menifee Unified School District, said the man said only that the package was for the principal and left quickly without explanation. She said careful inspection by members of the Sheriff's Department Hazardous Device Team later revealed that the package did indeed include normal items mailed to the principal.

While the investigation was continuing, the school at 25455 Ridgemoor Road remained on lockdown and students were kept under supervision at an area to the back of the school. Parents were notified and immediately began picking up students at the back gate. School officials took the names of students from parents and sent them out in orderly fashion.

The Hazardous Device Team deemed that the package was safe and the lockdown was lifted about 1:50 p.m.

"My wife received the call from the school," said Nick Tschans as he waited for his two children to be released. "For safety purposes and to eliminate the possibility of anyone entering the campus, they had us wait for each child to be brought out. It took some time, but obviously they have to have standards and procedures in place."

Virginia Silva said she felt school officials were handling the dismissal of students well.

"They said I had the option of picking my child up now or waiting to normal dismissal time," she said about the call she received. "I decided to come now. But it doesn't seem chaotic. I always tell my kids to stay calm and do what their teachers tell them to do."

Police cars blocked off the street in front of Ridgemoor Elementary during the investigation.