Students evacuated, then kneeling under classroom tables, in the dark. In two days, two malicious calls led to a trying week at Porte de Normandie high school, in Verneuil-d'Avre-et-d'Iton, in the south of Eure.
Received Monday, November 18 mid-morning, the first criminal call triggered a bomb threat and the rapid evacuation of the establishment, which had nearly 1,000 students.
“When the alarm sounded, we didn’t know the reason. This could have been a classic fire drill. But we were surprised to be grouped together, not in the parking lot at the end of the school, but at the stadium, a little further away. That’s when the principal told us about a bomb,” testifies a final year student.
Anxious parents
During this time, the intervention of the police mobilized around fifteen gendarmes, including a dog team. At the beginning of the afternoon, once the premises are secure, students are authorized to collect their belongings, then return home, as classes will not resume.
On social networks, parents describe the anguish they experienced, alerted in real time by their child. “My son is shocked, he will not return to high school this week,” announces the mother of a high school student.
The return to normal is very brief. The next day, a second call claimed that a potentially dangerous individual had entered the high school. As a precaution, the head of the establishment triggers a special safety plan (PPMS).
“The alarm sounded again, our teacher turned off the lights, we remained silent, in the dark, under our tables, for a good ten minutes. I was a little panicked. A classmate started to run out of air and then had to be taken to the infirmary,” explains a student. But this time again, it is a false alarm.
On Wednesday, to help the students who were disrupted by these events, the school management announced the establishment of a listening cell, supported by a mobile team from the rectorate.
The authorities do not make a link between the two alerts. On the other hand, the bomb threat reminds them of something: “We are making a connection with another bomb threat which took place in Pas-de-Calais, a few weeks ago. In both cases, the author of the call had used the number of a student at the establishment, via a relatively complex manipulation,” explains the Évreux public prosecutor, who is leading the investigation. According to the Penal Code, these false alerts are punishable by two years of imprisonment and a fine of 30,000 euros.
