UPDATE-BAKERSFIELD—(Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014 at 3:30 p.m.)—Kern County Sheriff’s Information Officer Ray Pruitt  issued this summary of the event: On October 9, 2014 at about 9:22 a.m. Kern County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to Mt. Vernon Elementary School in the 2100 block of Potomac Ave. regarding a suspicious device that had been located in a vacant lot just west of the school.

Upon arriving deputies contacted the principal of Mt. Vernon Elementary. He advised deputies that a transient had been searching for scrap metal in a vacant lot west of the school and had located what he believed was possibly a hand grenade. He then reported the device to school personnel who notified the Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies were led to the device and determined it did appear similar to a certain type of hand grenade. School personnel evacuated students from classrooms near the west end of the school and the school was placed on lockdown. Several homes west of the vacant lot were also evacuated as a safety precaution.

Sheriff’s Office Bomb Squad technicians responded and determined that the device was possibly live and explosive. Bomb Squad technicians then rendered the device safe. The school was taken off lockdown at about 11:15 a.m.

The investigation is ongoing. If anyone has information on this case they are asked to call the Sheriff’s Office at 661.861.3110 or Secret Witness at 661.322.4040. Anonymous text tips can be sent to TIP411 (847411). Just type the keyword “KCSO” prior to the message.

UPDATE-BAKERSFIELD—(Thursday, Oct. 9,2014 at 12:30 p.m.)—The lockdown at Mt. Vernon School in Bakersfield has been lifted. A hand grenade inside a can near the school was discovered by scrap metal scavengers, who alerted officials, according to Kern County Sheriff’s Information Officer Ray Pruitt. The grenade was inspected by a robot and then detonated he told reporters. School has resumed.

UPDATE-BAKERSFIELD—(Thursday, Oct. 9,2014 at 10:30 a.m.)—Kern County Sheriff’s Deputies are onscene at Mt. Vernon Elementary School investigating a possible explosive device next to the school.

BAKERSFIELD—(Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014 at 10:20 a.m.)—At 10:16 a.m. The Kern County Sheriff’s Office announced they were on their way to Mountain Vernon Elementary School in Bakersfield to check on a threat to the school. The classrooms and students are in lockdown at this time. The school is on Mt. Vernon and Potomac Streets.

This is part of the October 3, 2014 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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