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No Bomb Found At Kenwood High, Threat Shut Down School Friday

ESSEX, Md. (WJZ) -- School threat. A bomb scare forces an Essex high school to close for the day while police investigate what they believe to be a suspicious package.

Derek Valcourt explains what triggered the alarm.

Police say it was a threatening email that was sent to the school that triggered the alarm and the discovery at the time of what they labeled a suspicious package.

Tactical teams quickly fanned out around Kenwood High School.

More than 50 police and fire units were called just after 6 a.m. Friday when administrators received what appeared to be a threatening email that police later identified as spam.

Police immediately began checking the building.

"By happenstance, the officers located a pipe in the cafeteria side on the outside of the building. Because of the way the pipe looked, it did appear to be suspicious and we investigated," said Shawn Vinson, Baltimore County Police Department.

Luckily, the pipe was discovered before students were set to arrive for the day.

"The people that were on the buses already coming to school, they got taken to Eastern. And us that were already off the buses or walked, we were told to go to Stemmers," one student said.

"It's happened multiple times--during our homecoming and all that. I guess because they don't want it to... But they actually found something this time," another student said.

SWAT teams detonated the pipe. After realizing it was not a bomb, they searched the school room by room. By 1:30 p.m. they declared the building all clear.

Police say their investigation into the email that triggered the scare was not sent by a student or even anyone in the community. No further details were available.

No charges will be filed in the case.

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