Students at Samohi spent most of the day Thursday in lockdown following a bomb threat to the campus.
At approximately 11:42 a.m. the school switchboard operator received a phoned-in bomb threat, alleging the bomb was set to go off within five minutes.
The school contacted the police immediately following this phone call and the security team, including SMPD and administrators swept the campus.
Parents were advised to stay away from the school as students were kept in their classrooms while the search was conducted but some gathered at the main gate anyway in anticipation of students being released.
Once the campus was deemed safe and the threat deemed a hoax, students were released at about 2 p.m.
"The Santa Monica Police Department has given an all-clear that our school is safe to resume as normal. Students have been dismissed to go to lunch and allowed to leave campus at this time. This will be the dismissal bell," said SMMUSD in a statement sent to parents. "Thank you for your patience during this Shelter-In-Place. We did this to ensure that we did not have movement around campus after a disturbing phone call that required investigation. Our students acted appropriately and were cooperative during this time."
