Ramon Cortines made the decision at 5:30 a.m. today to close all LAUSD schools due to what he, and others, believed to be a “credible threat” of violence against schools.
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Both Los Angeles Unified School District and New York City Public Schools, however, received identical electronic threats that mentioned explosive devices, assault rifles and machine pistols, the Los Angeles Times said. LA reacted by shutting down the entire district, while NY…
“Preliminary assessment is it was a hoax to disrupt school districts in large cities”, Schiff said in a Tweet.
The LA writer claimed to be a student of the “Los Angeles Unified district”, terminology that Sherman says would be used by someone familiar with the system. But there were many schools.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Bratton seized on the New York City email’s apparent error in its failure to capitalize Allah.
Principal Deb Smith said that all schools, including Birmingham Community Charter High School, Magnolia Science Academy and other schools near Daniel Pearl Magnet High School, were closed on Tuesday.
Some students had already left home by the time the announcement was made, and those who arrived at school were supervised until they could be picked up. Though the threatening email was later determined to be a hoax, Abrahms said the reaction in Los Angeles highlighted the lingering unease after 14 people were gunned down in a terror attack in San Bernardino two weeks ago.
Cortines said he ordered plant managers to “walk the schools” and report “anything out of order” to police.
Bakersfield law enforcement is not actively investigating any threats here and they are not assisting the police investigation in L.A., but will remain on alert. About 37 percent of the threats were sent electronically, and almost a third resulted in schools being evacuated. “Parents… know there are some doors they can sneak into if they’re in a rush”, he said.
In LA, the threat came in the form of an email to a school board member.
“These threats are so easy to issue and in today’s day and age, they are understandably being taken very seriously”, Northeastern University professor Max Abrahms said.
Arlington schools spokeswoman Leslie Johnston said the far and instant reach of social media has played a role in the increase of such threats.
Former Sacramento County Sheriff – John McGinness says as a general rule of thumb, the more specific a threat it, then the more serious it should be taken. “What I heard was the Federal Bureau of Investigation had said that was not a viable threat but he still made that decision and you have to stand by his decision”, Godown said.
“The one thing I’m afraid of is now anyone can call in with a hoax and send everyone scrambling for options for their children”, she said. “We do not know whether this email is from a devout Muslim who supports jihadists or perhaps a non-Muslim with a different agenda”.
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Lupita Vela’s 8-year-old daughter enjoys attending Eagle Rock Elementary on the city’s northeast side, and Vela was anxious about her daughter feeling unsafe in class.
