New York Police Department and counter-terrorism officials immediately recognized the sloppily crafted, clumsy threat as a hoax.
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Officials from Broward County Public Schools in Fort Lauderdale said they received similar threats.
Seminole County schools have not received any threats, spokesman Mike Lawrence said Thursday morning.
And in Miami, school officials assured families that the district police would employ extra security to schools Thursday.
Parents in Houston were asked to be vigilant should they see anything out of the ordinary on Thursday morning, the district’s statement said.
Los Angeles, which has the nation’s second-largest school districts, closed Tuesday after receiving the threat.
The Ellensburg School District was one of a number of school districts nationwide that received threat similar to ones received by the Los Angeles and New York City school districts earlier this week.
Mock said the email may be released within the next 24 hours.
Wright said officials are investigating and taking the threats seriously. NY mayor Bill de Blasio called the threat generic and outlandish, arguing that closing down schools for the day would be a disservice to NY students.
Police and the FBI are investigating after authorities say someone made threats to Plainfield High School and Danville High School in Indiana. Classes are open Thursday.
Three school districts in the state canceled classes.
Of course, parents in L.A. only learned of the threat when they were told their children wouldn’t be attending school that day, but it’s clear from Cortines’ statements to the media that possible parents’ concerns weighed heavy in his mind when he made his decision.
He says a classmate overheard the freshman at Danville Community High School saying he was going to “shoot the place up”. Here’s a snippet of the email to L.A. school officials: “Me, and my 32 comrades, will die tomorrow in the name of Allah”.
The author of what was determined to be a hoax included references that said he or she had spent the past four years at a district high school, and the experience “has been absolute hell”.
“A threat has been directed to the high school, and the safety and security of all students is our highest priority”, a message on the PCSC website read.
It’s rare for a major USA city to close all its schools because of a threat. Authorities are yet to identify the source of the threat, but the Federal Bureau of Investigation confirmed that it was not credible.
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Danville Community School Corporation Superintendent Tracey Shafer says the individual making the threats against Danville schools may have also threatened Plainfield schools.
