Trenton mayor calls bomb threat that occurs same day as security guard walkout 'highly suspect'

TRENTON — An early-morning bomb scare that forced the evacuation of a Trenton Central High School branch campus has quickly turned into another political grenade for the capital city’s powerful teachers union to throw at Superintendent Fred McDowell.

The bomb scare blew up in McDowell's face because it occurred the same day of a district-wide security guard “walkout” that left city leaders scrambling and the teachers union fuming.

Police continue to investigate who made the call as speculation has run rampant about whether the bomb threat – which turned out to be a hoax – may have been a well-orchestrated plot to make McDowell, who is disliked by a large swath of educational stakeholders over a highly charged merit pay flap that has landed the district in court, look worse.

“I have my own opinion,” Mayor Reed Gusciora told The Trentonian in a phone interview late Friday. “But I’ll wait for the investigation to play out. Of course, I think it’s highly suspect and coincidental that there’s a bomb scare the same day that some security officers walk off the job.”

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