'Suspicious' lunch sack forces Culpeper to evacuate classrooms at two schools.

By DONNIE JOHNSTON
The Free Lance-Star

Date published: 10/18/2004

A peanut butter-and-jelly sandwich prompted officials to evacuate about 1,200 Culpeper County Middle School students from their classrooms Monday.

Principal Bill Zierden noticed what school officials later termed a "suspicious package" leaning against the outside of a rear door to the building about 7:35 a.m. He "immediately made a decision to institute emergency procedures," according to county school system spokesman Larry Parker.

Because the small brown package was sealed with tape, an E?911 call was placed and law-enforcement authorities were dispatched to the scene. Zierden then contacted Culpeper County High School Principal Eric Porter and Larry Carter, division executive director of administrative services for the school system. The high school is about 75 yards across the street from the middle school and several hundred high-schoolers use middle-school classrooms.

Officials ordered a classroom evacuation of the middle school. High-school students in classes in the middle school were sent to the high-school auditorium, while middle-schoolers were sent to the cafeteria and forum in their building.

(Officials initially reported that classrooms at both schools were evacuated.)

As tensions mounted, officials eventually decided to send the middle-school students to the football stadium about 100 yards south.

While sheriff's deputies were securing the scene, Zierden asked the evacuating middle-school students if anyone knew anything about a small brown package. A frightened boy eventually approached the principal. ?The sixth-grader sheepishly whispered to the principal that he had dropped his peanut butter-and-jelly sandwich somewhere on the way to school,? Parker reported.

The student described to Zierden and a sheriff?s investigator the brown bag his mother had wrapped and taped. It matched the description of the suspicious package, Parker said.

Moments later, and with great caution, Sgt. Curtis Hawkins approached the bag and, according to Parker, "gently poked it."

When it did not explode, the deputy unwrapped the package, which Parker said somewhat resembled a box because of the way it was taped. He found the peanut butter-and-jelly sandwich inside.

"Once it was verified that [the sack] was not dangerous, the student got his lunch back," Parker said.

At that point, the evacuation to the stadium was halted and students at both schools were sent back to their classrooms. Classes returned to normal before 8:30 a.m.

"We were already making arrangements to have a bomb [sniffing] dog brought down," said sheriff?s Capt. Jim Branch.

The high school had held an emergency evacuation drill Friday and the middle school had a smaller exercise. Parker said those drills "possibly" contributed to yesterday's cautious approach.

"People were a little more aware because of Friday," he said. But Branch was hesitant to call the sandwich incident an overreaction. "I think that in today?s world you can?t be too careful," he said.

To reach DONNIE JOHNSTON: DJohn40330@aol.com

Date published: 10/18/2004