Bomb Threat Turns Out A Hoax; Deer Park Student Being Held

About 500 students at Deer Park High School were evacuated Wednesday afternoon after a written bomb threat was found on the counter of a boys bathroom.

As students were being let out of school, an 18-year-old senior turned himself in to an assistant principal for leaving the note.

Brian J. Payne was being held in the Spokane County Jail Wednesday night. He faces a felony charge for allegedly threatening to injure people and damage property.

A custodian found the note about 1 p.m. It said the bomb was “for real” and would explode at 2 p.m.

“We announced at 1:30 that there was an emergency,” said Glenys Hill, superintendent of the Deer Park School District. “By 1:45, we were able to have the students off the grounds.”

The district also arranged to have buses pick up high-school students early.

Payne admitted just before 2 p.m. that he had placed the note in the bathroom, according to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Department.

He said the threat was a hoax, and a search by deputies and school employees found no explosives.

Classes will start as scheduled today.

“The building was checked,” Hill said. “We believe it is safe and secure at this time.”

Hill said Payne was expelled immediately.

, DataTimes