NEW YORK CITY — Edward R. Murrow High School was temporarily evacuated Tuesday morning while police investigated an abandoned backpack that had been tossed at its entrance, students and officials said.
Students flooded social media with reports that the Flatlands high school, at 1600 Avenue L, was evacuated about 11:45 a.m.
"Tons of cops just rolled up to Murrow out of no where," Michael Salvatore tweeted about 11:48 a.m.
A student threw down their backpack at the schools entrance and ran away, according to a Department of Education spokeswoman.
Police initially told students that it was a fire drill, but once students were let back inside about 12:10 p.m. the principal announced that it had been a bomb scare, according to sophomore Vasyl Kadar.
"He announced a school bag was left unattended and the decision was made to evacuate the building," Kadar said. "After 25 minutes NYPD said it was okay to come back inside."
Tuesday's bomb scare came on the heels of another last week when a Grand Street high school campus was evacuated while the NYPD's bomb squad investigated a suitcase that had been abandoned at its entrance.
Both packages were found to be harmless.
