'Terrorist' Bomb Threat Forces Evacuations, Cancels Classes At Cerritos College

NORWALK (CBSLA) – A suspect has been detained in connection with a bomb threat which forced evacuations at Cerritos College in Norwalk Tuesday, and later prompted the school to cancel classes for the day.

Just before 2 p.m., the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department reported that a suspect had been detained and all remaining classes for the day had been canceled. The all-clear was given around 2:10 p.m. and the campus was declared safe.

The incident began nearly two hours earlier, when Cerritos College first reported that it had received a possible threat focused in the "drop-off area near the
Administrative Building" at the campus in the 11000 block of Alondra Boulevard.

It all started when a suspect "walked into one of our classrooms and said that he was a terrorist and had a bomb with him," college President Jose Fierro said.

The threat prompted some evacuations and a campus-wide shelter-in-place order.

"This is not a drill," the college tweeted.

Sheriff's deputies were called to the scene and students, faculty and staff of some buildings were evacuated, while others were told to shelter in place.

The suspect's name was not immediately released. It was unknown whether the person is a student at the college.