Razor blades found in elementary school playground; ammunition, knife located on school grounds

PHELAN, Calif. (FOX 11) - Parents of children who attend Baldy Mesa Elementary School are on edge after weapons, ammunition and a threatening letter were found on school grounds in three separate instances over the past week.

"We are all so terrified to have our children on campus," a concerned parent, who asked to remain anonymous, told FOX 11 News.

On Monday morning, staff members found ammunition and razor blades in the Baldy Mesa Elementary School playground, according to the Snowline Joint Unified School District. Students were already arriving at school when the ammunition and razors were found.

"As students arrived we quickly secured students into our multi-purpose room and notified parents about the incident," the school district wrote in a press release. "Parents were encouraged to keep their students at home or to pick up their students if they had already dropped them off."

While conducting interviews on Monday afternoon, FOX 11 reporter Matt Johnson discovered bullets on the ground outside the school.

The district said they are working closely with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department "to ensure students and staff are safe to attend school tomorrow."

"We anticipate school to be in session tomorrow," the district said in a statement released Monday afternoon. "If anything should change, we will notify our community immediately."

This is the third incident at the school in the past week that involved weapons being discovered on school grounds.

Last Monday, on May 13, a faculty member discovered a knife, with a threatening letter taped to the blade, on campus. School officials said that the threat did not specifically name anyone, but did not release what the note said.

The next day, school staff were notified of pistol ammunition located on Bonanza Road in front of the school. A school police officer responded and recovered live pistol rounds.

"Upon examination, the ammunition was found to be degraded, corroded, and probably manufactured between 1940 and 1946," the school said in a news release sent to parents. "The age of the ammunition, along with its position on the road, indicates that someone driving eastbound Bonanza Road approaching Baldy Mesa Road discarded the ammunition by throwing it out of the window of a vehicle."

The school added that they did not have any indication that the second incident was connected to the incident on May 13, but said that the "Snowline Joint Unified School District takes all of these incidents seriously."

Following the initial incidents, the school district said they would have an increased presence throughout the campus.

"We would like to thank all of the Baldy Mesa Staff and parents for their cooperation this morning. The investigation is ongoing and we will update our community as we are provided with information," school officials said.