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Gold Coast high school bomb hoax an inside job, police say

Police believe the bomb hoax that sent a Gold Coast high school into lock down for several hours came from within the school community.

Palm Beach Currumbin State High School was evacuated and locked down on Wednesday morning after a cleaner found an envelope with white powder and a threatening note.

The powder and handwritten note believed to have read ''have fun with the bomb" prompted a full-scale response from police, ambulance and fire department crews.

Staff and students were taken to the oval as precaution. Photo: 7 News
Staff and students were taken to the oval as precaution. Photo: 7 News

A fire crew tested the powder which police later advised was a 'common kitchen product' while students waited on the school oval.

Students and teachers were allowed to return to classrooms initially before a second lockdown saw them restricted to the school hall while investigations continued.

The second lockdown resulted from a series of airdrop messages that were sent to students and staff containing more threats which led police to believe the scare campaign was coming from within the school.

"They [airdrop messages] can only be sent to other users within a small distance," a police spokesman said.

"Allowing us to determine it was highly likely that the threat was coming from within the school grounds."

At 11.30am, the children were released from the school and were reunited with their parents.

Police interviewed staff and students to determine the source of the threat. Photo: 7 News
Police interviewed staff and students to determine the source of the threat. Photo: 7 News

Police are reviewing CCTV and speaking with students in the hope of tracking down who is responsible.

After the threat surfaced before school opened on Wednesday morning an email was sent out to parents by the Acting Principal, Blair Hanna, advising them to keep students at home.

"PBC is closed today Wed 3 May until further notice. Please do not send students to school. Students who have already made their way to school will be supervised," she said.

The school is one of the biggest on the Gold Coast with some 2,500 students attending.

The fire brigade was at the scene and investigated the white powder substance.  Photo: 7 News
The fire brigade was at the scene and investigated the white powder substance. Photo: 7 News