A little more than a month ago, schools across Los Angeles were shut down after several members of the Los Angeles Board of Education received a crude, poorly written and ultimately non-credible threat. New York and others had received the same or similar threats, but chose not to act as quickly (and haphazardly) as the California hub did. Of course, the state was still reeling from the San Bernardino shooting in early December, so the LA school board’s decision couldn’t be judged too harshly. Now it seems history is repeating itself, albeit in six other states throughout the Midwest and the Northeastern parts of the country.
On Tuesday, the Washington Post reported that dozens of schools in Delaware, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Pennsylvania received various threats. In response, school officials and local authorities evacuated, closed and searched many of the targeted schools throughout the day. Whether or not these incidents were directly related is still under investigation, but the details known thus far indicate a situation like what happened last December.
Here’s what we know:
- Delaware: According to the Washington Post, the Delaware State Police were “currently investigating threats at three schools” that involved “a robotic style or computer generated voice phone call.” The offices of Long Neck Elementary in Millsboro, Woodbridge High in Greenwood and Silverlake Elementary in Middletown all received similar automated calls at around 9:30 a.m. local time. Apparently the one made to Long Neck Elementary specifically stated that someone was armed and on the roof of the school. However, the nature of the threats made to the other two schools is currently unknown. All three locations were searched and cleared.
- Iowa: At around 8:40 a.m. local time, a 911 call reported an explosive device on the campus of Iowa City West High. Per The Gazette in Cedar Rapids, the school was immediately locked down by the authorities and a bomb squad was dispatched to discover and dispose of the alleged bomb. During the search, approximately 2,000 students were relocated offsite so as to ensure their safety. No further details about the threat were provided by police, but their search eventually resulted in an all clear when no explosive device was discovered.
- Maryland: The Washington Post reports two schools on Maryland’s eastern shore received threats, resulting in immediate closures, evacuations and searches. In addition, Stephen Decatur High in Worcester County had to be evacuated after a bomb threat was called in to the school’s office early Tuesday morning. The call “[indicated] that there was a bomb in the building,” but no bomb was found and students were able to return to class at around 11:30 a.m. local time.
- Massachusetts: Over a dozen school across eastern Massachusetts were placed on lock down following a series of bomb threats, according to the Boston Globe. Whether or not all of the threats made across several counties are related remains unknown, but several are known to have resulted from robo-calls placed to the schools’ main offices Tuesday morning. One of the schools, Arlington High, reported that the call they received “threatened that someone would detonate a bomb hidden in a backpack inside the school and then shoot students as they fled.” After a thorough search by local, state and federal authorities, no bombs were found at either Arlington High or any of the other locations affected.
- New Jersey: In terms of numbers, New Jersey is by far the clear winner with at least 26 schools receiving similar bomb threats and closing down as a result. According to NJ.com, over two dozen schools across the northern part of the state were closed, evacuated and searched on Tuesday after receiving automated calls from a number traced back to Bakersfield, Calif. Spokesperson Detective Sgt. Robert Bracken told the press, “The message… indicated a nonspecific threat to the school district involving the placement of a bomb in one of the schools, as well as a secondary threat of a ‘mass shooting.'” No bombs or discernible threats were found, and the calls were later declared to have “no credibility.”
- Pennsylvania: CBS Philadelphia reports the Chichester School District closed and evacuated all of its schools early Tuesday. Why? Because of a “non-specific” threat placed at a firehouse in the area. Several of the schools were placed on lock down, and all were searched by local authorities. Like all the other schools and threats before it, however, all of the Pennsylvania locations were deemed clear and the threat non-credible.
Again, the threats made against schools across six states on Tuesday have not been officially connected to one another. And considering the precise nature of the threat made to Long Neck Elementary in Millsboro, Del. (shooter on the roof), there’s a good chance that some of these threats were isolated incidents. Even so, the similarities to what happened in Los Angeles and (what didn’t happen in) New York are uncanny.
(Via the Washington Post, The Gazette, Boston Globe, NJ.com and CBS Philadelphia)